i 
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iiii 


FOI.'NDfcD    BY   JOHN    D.    ROOKEt'KLLKR 


50ME  ENGLISH  AND  LATIN  SOURCES 
AND  PARALLELS  FOR  THE  MO- 
RALITY OF  WISDOM 


A   DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED   TO  THE  FACULTY  OP  THE   GRADUATE   SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND 
LITERATliRE   IN. CANDIDACY  FOR  THE    DEGREE   OF 
DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

(DKPARTMKXT    OF    ENGIjISH  ) 


BY 

WALTER  KAY  SMART 


MENASHA.  WIS. 

GEORGE  BANTA  PUBLISHING  00. 

1912 


I 


"-v 


FOUNDED  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER 


SOME  ENGLISH  AND  LATIN  SOURCES 
AND  PARALLELS  FOR  THE  MO- 
RALITY OF  WISDOM 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE   SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND 
LITERATURE   IN   CANDIDACY  FOR  THE   DEGREE   OF 
DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

(DEPARTMENT    OF    ENGLISH) 


BY 
WALTER  KAY  SMART 


MENASHA,  WIS. 

GEORGE  BANTA  PUBLISHING  CO. 

1912 


■»   7 
J  J  ) 


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6Z 


CONTENTS 

Manuscripts  and  Editions 4 

Analysis  of  the  Plot 6 

Sources 9-38 

Orologium  Sapientiae 9 

Scala  Perfectionis 17 

Epistle  on  Mixed  Life 26 

Meditationes  de  Cognitione  Humanae  Conditionis      .      .  28 

UnidentifiedWorkby  St.  Bernard  (?) 31 

Tractatus  de  Interiori  Domo 32 

Soliloquium  de  Quatuor  Mentalihus  Exercitiis    ...  33 

Novem  Virtutes 34 

Meditations  on  the  Passion 37 

Parallel  Ideas 39-77 

First  Division 39 

Second  Division 45 

Third  Division 60 

Fourth  Division 70 

Purpose 78 

Author 82 

Place 85 

Date 87 

Summary 90 


'CT 


5922 


PREFACE 

When  this  study  of  the  sources  and  parallels  for  Wisdom  was 
begun,  it  was  my  intention  to  include  the  French  field ;  but  the  mass 
of  ecclesiastical  Latin  that  had  to  be  gone  through  proved  to  be 
so  large  that  I  found  it  necessary  to  confine  myself  to  that  and  the 
English.  Even  in  the  Latin  field,  no  pretence  to  completeness  is 
made.  For  example,  much  of  Richard  Rolle's  Latin  work  still 
in  manuscript  has  not  been  consulted  owing  to  the  limited  time 
which  I  could  spend  in  England.  (It  is  to  be  regretted  that  these 
works,  which  were  collected  by  ]\Ir.  Carl  Horstman  for  a  volume 
in  his  Library  of  Early  English  Writers,  have  never  been  printed.) 
Likewise,  Bonaventura's  writings  have  not  been  accessible  for  a 
thorough  examination.  It  is  very  probable  that  a  search  through 
these  works  would  yield  other  sources.  Those  that  have  been 
found,  however,  are  sufficient  to  show  our  author's  relations  with 
contemporary  and  earlier  movements  of  thought,  and  to  show  his 
method  of  work.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  finding  of  two  or  three 
other  Latin  sources  would  materially  add  to  these  results.  With 
respect  to  the  French  field  the  situation  is  different.  If  the  satire 
on  social  and  political  conditions,  in  the  third  division  of  the  play, 
is  not  original  with  our  author,  it  is  probably  based  upon  a  French 
source.  At  any  rate,  the  source  is  pretty  certainly  not  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  mystics,  which  furnished  all  those  that  have  been  found. 
A  search  through  the  French  literature  might  give  some  valuable 
information  about  another  side  of  our  author's  affiliations.  This 
investigation  I  hope  to  make  in  the  near  future. 

In  selecting  sources  for  a  play  like  Wisdom,  in  which  most  of 
the  material  is  conventional,  one  is  always  in  danger  of  attaching 
too  much  importance  to  mere  similarity  in  ideas.  I  have  tried  to 
avoid  this  danger  by  excluding  from  the  list  of  sources  all  works 
in  which  there  was  no  significant  similarity  in  phraseology  or  ar- 
rangement. In  some  cases  I  was  in  doubt  as  to  a  passage.  For 
example,  I  feel  sure  that  11.  917-28  in  the  play  follow  closely  an 
undiscovered  version  of  a  conventional  complaint  against  man's 
ingratitude  to  Christ,  one  version  of  which  is  given  in  the  passages 
quoted  from  Lambeth  Ms.  853,  and  other  versions  in  the  works 
cited  in  the  footnote   (p.  73).     No  one  of  these  forms,  however, 


2  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

shows  sufficient  similarity  to  be  called  a  direct  source.  This,  and 
other  passages  of  which  I  was  doubtful,  are  given  among  the 
parallels-in-idea. 

In  order  to  reduce  as  much  as  possible  the  space  occupied  by- 
foot-notes,  a  list  of  books  most  frequently  referred  to  has  been 
added.    It  is  not  intended  to  be  a  complete  bibliography. 

In  conclusion,  I  wish  to  thank  the  authorities  of  the  British 
Museum,  the  Bodleian  Library,  and  the  Cambridge  University 
Library  for  their  courtesy;  and  especially  Mr.  A.  W.  Pollard  for 
his  personal  kindness  and  help.  The  Reverend  Gr.  A.  Schneider, 
librarian,  and  the  Masters  and  Fellows  of  Gonville  and  Caius 
College,  Cambridge,  were  particularly  obliging  in  allowing  me  to 
use  manuscripts  from  their  library  when  it  was  closed  on  account 
of  alterations  in  the  building,  and  in  permitting  transcripts  to 
be  made  from  their  manuscripts.  Professor  J.  M.  Manly  suggested 
this  study,  and  has  given  much  valuable  help.  Professors  F.  A. 
Blackburn  and  A.  H.  Tolman  have  also  suggested  changes  and 
additions.     Mr.  C.  B.  Cooper  has  kindly  read  the  proofs. 

Chicago,  December,  1912.  W.  K.  Smart. 


BOOKS  MOST  FREQUENTLY  USED 

Assembly  of  Gods,  ed.  O.  L.  Triggs,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXIX,    1896. 

Ayenbite  of  Inwyt,  Dan  Michel's,  ed.  R.  Morris,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  XXIII.   1866. 

Brandl,  A.,  Quellen  des  weltlichen  Dramas  in  England  vor  Shakespeare 
(Quellen  und  Forschungen  zur  Sprach-  und  Culturgeschichte  der  german- 
ischen  Volker),  Strassburg,  1898. 

Bonaventurae  (Sancti)  Eximii  Ecclesiae  Doctoris  Soliloquium.  de  Quatuor 
Mentalibus  Exercitiis,  quod  dicitur  Imago  Vitae.    Antverpiae,  M.  DC.  XVI. 

Chester  Plays,  The,  ed.  H.  Deimling,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXII.    1893. 

Chester  Plays,  The,  ed.  T.  Wright,  Shakespeare  Society  Publications.  Lon- 
don, 1843. 

Cursor  Mundi,  ed.  R.  Morris,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  LVII,  XCIX,  CI.    1874-93. 

Digby  Plays,  The,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXX.     1896. 

Ludus  Coventriae,  ed.  J.  O.  Halliwell,  Shakespeare  Society  Publications. 
London,  1841. 

Macro  Plays,  The,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall  and  A.  W.  Pollard,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext. 
Ser.,  XCI.    1904. 

Magnyfycence,  A  Moral  Play  by  John  Skelton,  ed.  R.  L.  Ramsay,  E.  E. 
T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  XCVIII.    1906-8. 

Manly,  J.  M.,  Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama.    Boston,  1897. 

Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye,  The,  ed.  J.  H.  Blunt,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  XIX, 
1873. 

Orologium  Sapientiae,  [by  Henricus  Suso.    1480  (?)]. 

Orologium  Sapientiae,  Middle  English  translation  from  Suso,  printed  in 
Anglia,  X,  323  ff. 

Patrologiae  Cursus  Completus,  Series  Latina,  ed.  J.  P.  Migne.  Paris, 
1844-11900. 

Piers  the  Plowman  and  Richard  the  Redeless,  ed.  W.  W.  Skeat.  Oxford, 
1886. 

Political  Poems  and  Songs  relating  to  English  History,  from  the  Acces- 
sion of  Edward  III.  to  that  of  Richard  III.,  ed.  T.  Wright.    London,  1859-61. 

Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  ed.  C.  Horstman,  Library  of  Early  English 
Writers.    London,  1895-6. 

Scala  Perfectionis,  by  Walter  Hilton.     Julian  Notary,  London,  1507. 

Soliloquium,  see  Bonaventurae. 

Towneley  Plays,  The,  ed.  G.  England  and  A.  W.  Pollard,  E.  E.  T.  S., 
Ext.  Ser.,  LXXI.    1897. 

York  Plays,  The,  ed.  L.  T.  Smith.    Oxford,  1885. 


MANUSCRIPTS  AND  EDITIONS 

The  fifteenth-century  morality  play,  Wisdom,  or  Mind,  Will, 
and  Understanding,  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  extant  in  its  com- 
plete form  only  in  the  Macro  Ms.  This  manuscript,  which  is  now  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  J.  H.  Gurney,  of  Keswick  Hall,  near  Nor- 
wich, derives  its  name  from  that  of  a  former  owner,  the  Reverend 
Cox  Macro,  an  antiquarian  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Besides 
Wisdom,  the  manuscript  at  present  contains  two  other  morality 
plays;  namely.  Mankind  and  The  Castle  of  Perseverance.  Before 
1820,  these  three  plays  formed  part  of  a  volume  which  is  thus 
described  in  the  catalogue  for  the  Macro  sale  held  in  that  year: 
'*5.  A  volume  containing  Juvenalis  Ms.  on  vellum — Leges  Inae, 
-^thelstani,  &c.  (scrip,  tempore  Henry  II.) — Liber  Alchemiae — 
Also  three  ancient  Masques.  The  Masque  of  Wisdom — The  Masque 
of  Mercy — The  Masque  of  the  Castel  of  Perseverance."  Shortly 
after  this  sale,  the  three  moralities  were  separated  from  the  other 
pieces  and  bound  together  in  a  new  volume.  The  manuscripts  of 
the  three  plays  were  written  separately  by  different  scribes.^ 

The  first  part  of  Wisdom,  11.  1-754,  is  also  found  in  the  Bodleian 
Ms.,  Digby  133,  which  contains  three  other  dramatic  pieces — The 
Conversion  of  St.  Paul,  Mary  Magdalene,  and  The  Killing  of  the 
Children.  Dr.  Furnivall  thinks  that  these  plays  were  written  in 
at  least  three  hands,  one  of  which  wrote  only  the  lines  from  Wis- 
dom."^ Mr.  Chambers  agrees  with  Dr.  Furnivall  on  these  points.^ 
Collier  says  that  the  handwriting  of  the  Digby  version  of  Wisdom 
is  apparently  the  same  as  that  of  the  Macro  version.*  Mr.  Cham- 
bers gives  this  statement  from  Collier  without  comment.^ 

The  754  lines  from  the  Digby  Ms.  were  printed  in  1835  by 
T.  Sharp,  in  Ancient  Mysteries,  for  the  Abbotsford  Club ;  in  1882 
by  Dr.  Furnivall,  in  his  edition  of  the  Digby  Mysteries,  for  the 
New  Shakspere  Society;  and  again  in  1896  by  Dr.  Furnivall,  in 

1  This  account  is  taken  from  Mr.  Pollard's  Introduction  to  The  Macro  Plays,  pp.  iz 
and  xxviii. 

^  The  Digby  Plays,  p.  xv-xvi. 

»E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage,  II,  428. 

*  J.  P.  Collier,  The  History  of  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  II,  207. 

"E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage,  II,  437. 


Manuscripts  and  Editions  5 

The  Dighy  Plays,  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society  (a  reprint  of 
the  New  Shakspere  Society  edition).  The  last  part  of  the  version 
in  the  Macro  Ms.,  from  1.  754  to  the  end,  was  printed  in  1837  by 
W.  B.  D.  D.  TurnbuU,  for  the  Abbotsford  Club,  to  supplement 
the  1835  edition  of  the  fragment  from  the  Digby  Ms.  The  three 
moralities  in  the  Macro  Ms.  were  edited  by  F.  J.  Furnivall  and 
A.  W.  Pollard  for  the  Early  English  Text  Society  in  1904.  The 
manuscript  has  also  been  reproduced  in  three  volumes  in  the  Tudor 
Facsimile  Texts,  edited  by  J.  S.  Farmer.  The  volume  containing 
Wisdom  appeared  in  1907.  My  references  are  to  the  E.  E.  T.  S. 
edition  by  Furnivall  and  Pollard. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  PLOT 

Tlie  plot  of  Wisdom  falls  into  four  divisions:  the  first  de- 
scribes the  soul  in  Innocence  (11.  1-324)  ;  the  second,  its  Tempta- 
tion and  Fall  (11.  325-551)  ;  the  third,  its  Life  in  Sin  (11.  552-876)  ; 
tlie  fourth,  its  Repentance  (11.  877-1168 ).« 

At  the  beginning.  Wisdom,  who  is  Christ,  appears,  dressed  in 
"ryche  purpull  clothe  of  golde,"  with  a  mantle  of  the  same  cloth 
lined  with  ermine,  and  wearing  a  wig  "with  browys"  and  a  beard 
of  "golde  of  Sypres. "  On  his  head  is  a  rich  imperial  crown,  set 
with  precious  stones ;"  in  his  left  hand,  he  bears  a  ball  of  gold  sur- 
mounted by  a  cross,  and  in  his  right  hand,  a  regal  sceptre.  He  in- 
troduces himself  as  "  Euerlastynge  Wysdom, "  which  name,  he 
declares,  although  not  inappropriate  to  the  other  members  of 
the  Trinity,  belongs  especially  to  the  Second  Person.  Then  Anima 
enters,  as  a  maid,  dressed  in  a  white  cloth  of  gold,  over  which  is 
thrown  a  black  mantle.  She  declares  her  love  for  Wisdom  and 
intreats  him  to  tell  her  something  about  himself.  Thereupon  he 
describes  at  length  the  nature  and  "prerogatyff"  of  his  love. 
This  leads  her  to  inquire  more  fully  concerning  the  "scolys"  of 
his  divinity,  a  request  which  calls  forth  a  warning  against  the 
desire  to  know  too  much,  and  the  statement  that  knowledge  of  God 
is  to  be  reached  through  knowledge  of  herself.  Then  follows  an 
analysis  of  Anima,  or  the  soul,  which  is  given  in  accordance  with 
mediaeval  theology  and  psychology.  The  soul  was  created  in 
the  image  of  God,  but,  through  the  sin  of  Adam,  lost  that  likeness. 
From  her  fallen  state  she  can  be  rescued  only  by  the  death  of 
Christ,  the  visible  symbols  of  which  are  the  seven  sacraments. 
Furthermore,  the  soul  is  divided  into  two  parts — reason  and  sen- 
suality — which  two  signify  the  whiteness  and  the  blackness  in  every 
soul :  the  whiteness  of  reason  and  the  blackness  of  sin.  (The  white- 
ness and  the  blackness  of  the  soul  are  symbolized  by  the  white 
gown  and  the  black  mantle  which  Anima  wears.)  The  five  "in- 
wits"  of  the  soul,  in  the  likeness  of  virgins  dressed  in  white  mantles, 
then  appear  on  the  stage  singing  a  verse  from  the  Song  of  Songs : 
"Nigra  sum,  sed  formosa,  filiae  Jerusalem."     These  are  succeeded 

•  I  owe  the  suggestion  for  this  division  to  R.  L.  Ramsay's  edition  of  Skelton's 
Magnyfycence.  p.  clix;  but  I  have  changed  the  limits  of  the  second  and  third  divisions. 


Analysis  of  the  Plot  7 

by  the  three  "Mights"  of  the  soul— Mind,  Will,  and  Understand- 
ing— all  dressed  in  white  cloth  of  gold  and  ''crestyde  in  on  sute." 
After  they  have  given  an  account  of  themselves  and  of  their  partic- 
ular functions.  Wisdom  exhorts  them  to  be  faithful,  and  warns 
them  against  the  wiles  of  their  three  enemies,  the  World,  the  Flesh, 
and  the  Devil.  The  tirst  division  of  the  play  ends  with  a  eulogy  of 
the  goodness  and  mercy  of  Wisdom.  Then  all  the  characters  who 
have  appeared  march  off  the  stage,  the  five  wits  singing  as  they 
go,  "Tota  pulchra  es. " 

In  the  second  division,  Lucifer  enters,  dressed  "in  a  dewyllys 
aray  with-owt,  and  with-in  as  a  prowde  galonte."  He  outlines 
his  plan  for  leading  the  IMights  into  sin  through  the  successive 
steps  of  suggestion,  delight',  and  consent ;  and  then  he  leaves  the 
stage  to  divest  himself  of  the  "dewyllys  aray,"  which  he  fears 
will  frighten  the  Mights.  The  latter  enter,  and  declare  that  their 
thoughts  are  ever  on  Jesus  and  that  they  will  always  be  faithful  to 
Him.  Thereupon,  Lucifer  re-appears  as  a  "goodly  galont,"  and 
with  specious  arguments  soon  wins  the  Mights  over  to  his  manner 
of  living.  They  go  off  the  stage,  leaving  Lucifer  behind,  who  tells 
of  his  further  plans.  He  will  lead  the  Mights  into  pride,  covet- 
ousness,  and  lechery,  the  three  chief  sins,  which  in  mediaeval 
theology  embraced  all  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins.  At  last  Lucifer 
catches  up  a  small  boy,  perhaps  from  the  audience,  and  runs  out. 
This  is  the  end  of  the  second  division. 

The  Mights  now  re-enter.  Mind  has  given  himself  up  to  the 
sins  of  pride,  such  as  the  seeking  of  high  office  and  the  cultiva- 
tion of  powerful  friends;  Understanding  is  covetous,  and  prefers 
riches  above  all  else;  Will  delights  in  lechery.  Then  follows  a 
satire  on  the  political  and  social  conditions  of  the  times.  Pride, 
the  particular  sin  of  Mind,  is  identified  with  the  common  practice 
of  Maintenance,  that  is,  the  furthering  of  unjust  causes,  in  the 
courts  and  elsewhere,  by  the  proud  and  powerful  nobles.  Covet- 
ousness,  the  sin  of  Understanding,  becomes  Perjury,  by  means  of 
which  much  money  can  be  made.  Lechery,  to  which  Will  has 
given  himself,  remains  Lechery,  for  that  was  common  enough  in 
the  real  life  of  the  times.  Each  of  these  three — Maintenance, 
Perjury,  and  Lechery — brings  out  in  turn  six  of  his  followers, 
dressed  in  appropriate  costumes,  who  perform  a  dance.     After  the 


8  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

dance  of  the  followers  of  Lechery,  their  leader  gets  into  a  quarrel 
with  Maintenance  and  Perjury,  and  the  three  fall  to  blows.  When 
peace  has  been  restored  and  the  dancers  have  left  the  stage,  the 
three  proceed  with  an  account  of  the  methods  which  they  will  use 
to  get  what  they  most  desire.  Finally,  just  as  they  are  ready  to 
leave  the  stage  to  go  to  dinner.  Wisdom  re-enters. 

Here  the  redemption  of  Mind,  Will,  and  Understanding  begins. 
Wisdom  reminds  them  that  death  will  soon  overtake  them,  and 
urges  them  to  repent.  They  refuse  to  listen  to  him  until  he  shows 
them  the  image  of  Anima,  who  appears  "in  ]>e  most  horrybull 
wyse,  fowlere  J^an  a  fende,"  dressed  in  a  hideous  mantle,  from 
beneath  which  run  six  small  boys  dressed  as  devils  to  represent 
the  sins  that  the  Mights  of  the  soul  have  committed.  Thoroughly 
alarmed,  they  repent,  and  ask  guidance  of  Wisdom,  He  points 
them  to  the  way  of  salvation  through  the  three  steps  of  penance — 
contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction.  When  the  Mights  have 
passed  through  contrition,  the  devils  disappear.  The  Mights  and 
Anima  leave  the  stage  to  make  their  confession  to  Holy  Church, 
Anima  singing  as  they  go,  in  the  plaintive  manner  of  Passion 
Week,  a  verse  from  the  church  service.  Wisdom,  thus  left  alone, 
describes  the  kind  of  satisfaction  that  is  most  pleasing  to  God; 
namely,  love  to  God  and  to  one's  fellow  Christians,  rather  than 
great  bodily  punishment.  Anima  now  returns,  accompanied  by  the 
five  "In wits,"  and  Mind,  Will,  and  Understanding,  all  in  their 
"fyrst  clothynge;"  and  the  play  closes  with  speeches  by  Wisdom, 
the  Mights,  and  Anima.  « 


SOURCES 


OBOLOOIUM  SAPIENTIAE 

We  are  now  ready  to  investigate  the  sources  of  Wisdom.  The 
most  important  of  these  is  an  English  treatise  entitled  Orologium 
Sapientiae,  or  The  Seuene  Poyntes  of  Treive  Lone  and  Euerlast- 
ynge  Wisdame,  which  is  extant  in  Ms.  Caius  Coll.  390,  and  in  Ms. 
Douce  114.  The  fifth  chapter  is  also  found  separately  in  Ms.  Douce 
322,  fol.  20,  and  in  Ms.  Harl.  1706,  fol.  20.  The  entire  treatise  was 
printed  by  Caxton,  apparently  about  1490,^  and  again  by  K. 
Horstmann  in  1888,  in  Anglia,  X,  323  ff.  Both  Caxton  and  Horst- 
mann  printed  from  Ms.  Douce  114,  although  Caxton  changed  the 
spelling  and  form  of  many  words.  The  text  in  ]\ls.  Caius  Coll. 
390  differs  from  that  in  Ms.  Douce  114  in  spelling  and  word  forms, 
but  the  matter  is  essentially  the  same.  In  this  article,  I  have  used 
Horstmann 's  text  in  Anglia. 

Let  us  see  what  points  of  similarity  Wisdom  has  with  this  treat- 
ise.    The  passages  with  which  we  shall  deal  are  as  follows : 


Wisdom,  11.  1-65: 

Wysdom.    Yff  36  wyll  wet  \>t  propyrte 

Ande  l^e   resun   of  my  nayme  im- 

peryall, 

I  a;m  clepyde  of  hem  Jjat  in  erthe  be, 

'Euerlastj'nge  Wysdom'  to  my  nobl6 

egalle; 
Wyche    name    acordyt    best    in    es- 
pecyall, 
And  most  to  me  ys  convenyent. 
All-thow  eche  persone  of  t>e  trinyte 
be  wysdam  eternall, 
And  all  thre,  on  euerlastynge  wys- 
dome,  to-gedyr  present,  8 

Neuer-J?e-les,  for-as-moche  as  wysdom 
ys  propyrly 
Applyede  to  Jje  sune  by  resune, 
And  also  yt  fallyt  to  hym  specyally, 
By-cause  of  hys  hye  generacion, 
Therfor  \>e  belowjde  sone  hathe  t>is 
sygnyficacion 


Orologium  Sapientiae: 

I.  ffirst,  if  })ou  wolt  wite  \>e  prop- 
erte  and  resone  of  my  name,  J>ou  schalt 
vnderstande  l>at  I  am  clepede  of  hem 
J>at  livene  in  erjje  euerlastynge  wis- 
dam.  pe  whiche  name  is  most  con- 
uenient  and  best  acordynge  to  myne 
nobleye.  flPor  J)owhe  hit  so  be  J>at 
euerye  persone  of  \>e  holye  trinite 
taken  by  hit-selfe  is  wisdam,  &  alle 
l>e  persones  to-gydere  one  euerlast- 
ynge wisdam,  neuerlese,  for  als  miche 
as  wisdam  is  proprelye  applyede  to 
\)e  sone  and  also  hit  falle]?  to  him  by 
resone  of  his  generacione  specialye, 
Jjerefore  (J^e)  bylouede  sone  of  Jje 
fadere  is  takene  &  vnderstande  in  Jjat- 
manere  significacione  of  wisdam  cus- 
tumablye,  no  we  as  godde  &  nowe  as 
manne,  nowe  as  he  pat  is  spowse  of 
his  chirche  &  nowe  as  sche  l>at  is 
spowse  &  wyfe  of  euerye  chosene  sowle, 
\>at  maye  seye  of  euerlastyng  wis- 
dam in  J>ees  wordes  of  J'e  bokc  of 
wisdam:    banc    amaui    et   exquisiui    a 


^  K.  Horstmann,  Orologium  Sapientiae,  in  Anylia,  X,  323. 


10 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


Custiinimaly       'Wysdom,'       nowe 

Gode,  now  man, 
Spows  of  pe  chyrche,  &  wery  pa- 

trone, 
Wyffe  of  eche  chose  sowle:   thus 

Wysdom  be-gane.  16 

[Anima  enters.] 

[AxiMA.]      'Hanc     amaui    et    exqm- 

siui;' 

Fro  my  yougthe,  thys  haue  I  sowte, 

To  haue   to  my  spowse  most  specy- 

ally; 

For  a  louer  of  yowur  schappe  am 

I  wrowte. 
A-boue   all  hele  &  bewty   J^at  euer 
was  sowght, 
I   haue   louyde    Wysdom,   as    for 
my  lyght, 
For     all     goodnes     with     hym     ys 
broughte. 
In  wj'sdom  I  was  made  all  bewty 
bryghte.  24 

Oflf  yowur  name,  J^e  hye  felycyte. 

No  creature  knowyt  full  exposycion. 
Wysdom.      'Sapiencia,     specialior     est 
sole :' 
I  am  foundon  lyghte  with-owt  com- 

paryson, 

off  sterrys  a-boue  all  J)e  dysposicion, 

Forsothe,  of  lyght  Ipe  very  bryght- 

nes, 

Merowr  of  pe  dyvj^ne  domynacion. 

And  J?e  Image  of  hys  goodnes.    32 

Wysdom    ys    bettur   J)an    all    worldly 
precyosnes ; 
And  all  t>at  may  dysyryde  be, 
Is  not  in  comparyschon  to  my  lyknes; 
The  lengthe  of  pe  yerys  in  my  ryght 
syde  be, 

Ande  in  my  lefte  syde,  ryches,  ioy 
&  prosperyte: 

lo,   Jjis   ys    Jje    worthynes    of   my 
name! 

*The  play  has   "specialior;"   the  Vulgate, 
Most  of  the  Latin  quotations  in  the  passage 
from  the  Liber  Hapientiae. 


ruuentute  mea  &  quesiui  earn  sponsam  * 
mi  assumere,  &  amator  factus  sum 
forme  illius — J^at  is  to  seye:  'sche  JjIs 
I  haue  louede  &  I  haue  vtturlye 
sowhte  fro  myne  30wJ)e  &  I  haue 
desyrede  for  to  haue  to  mye  spowse, 
and  I  am  made  a  lovere  of  hir  forme 
and  schappe.'  and  also  in  pe  selfe 
boke  })us:  Super  salutem  &  omnem 
pulcritudinem  dilexi  sapienciam  &  pro- 
posui  pro  luce  habere  illam,  venerunt 
mi  omnia  bona  pariter  cum  ilia — 
'abouene  heele  &  alle  bewte  I  haue 
louede  wisdam  &  I  haue  purposede  for 
to  haue  hir  as  for  mye  lihte,  &  alle 
godes  haue  comene  to  me  with  hir.'  Also 
of  mye  wor]?inesse  hit  is  writen  Jjus: 
Sapiencia  speciosior'  est  sole  et  super 
omnem  disposicionem  stellarum  luci 
comparata  inuenitur  prior,  candor  est 
enim  lucis  eterne  &  speculum  sine 
macula  diuine  maiestatis  &  ymago 
bonitatis  illius — }?at  is  to  seye:  'wis- 
dam is  feyrere  Jeanne  sonne  &  in  com- 
Y>arisone  of  hir  to  liht  she  is  fown- 
dene  passynge  aboue  alle  pe  disposi- 
cione  of  sterres,  she  is  forsojje  pe 
bryhtnesse  of  euerlastynge  liht  and  pe 
mirrour  with-owt  wenune  of  goddes  / 
maieste  &  pe  ymage  of  his  godenesse.'  »/ 
Also  J)us:  Melior  est  sapiencia  cuntis 
[sic]  opibus  preciosissimis  &  omne 
desiderabile  non  potest  ei  comparari, 
longitudo  dierum  in  dextra  eius  &  in 
sinistra  illius  diuicie  &  gloria — 'wis- 
dam is  bettur  }?anne  (alle)  manere  of 
moste  preciouse  godes,  &  alle  pt\t  may 
be  desyrede  may  not  be  in  coraparis- 
one  lyke  to  hir;  pe  lengh  of  jeres  is 
in  hire  righ[t]  syde  and  in  hir  lift 
seyde  richesses  &  ioye.''  And  ]7us 
miche  towchynge  pe  proprete  &  l^e 
wor]?enesse  of  mye  name.  But  nowe, 
tochinge  my  loue,  be-holde  with  a 
ioyefulle  mynde  howe  hable  I  am  to 
(be)  louede,  howe  louelye  to  (be) 
clippede  and  kyssede  of  a  clene 
sowle.  O,  blessede  is  J)at  sowle  to 
wham  is  grauntede  in  alle  here  lyfe, 
J)owhe  hit  be  but  one  tyrae,  to  feele 
l?at  hit  be    (so)  ;  and  powh  hit  be  so 

,    "speciosior"    (Liber  Sapientiae   VII,    29). 
given  above  from  the  Orologium  are  taken 


Sources 


11 


Anima.     a,  Soueren  Wysdom!  yff 
yowur  benygnyte 
Wolde  speke  of  loue,  ^at  wer  a 


game. 


40 


Wysdom.     Off  my  loue  to  speke,  Jjat 
ys  myrable, 
Be-holde    now,    sowll,    with    joy  full 
mynde, 
How  louely  I  am,  how  Amyable, 
To  be  halysde  &  kyssyde   of  man- 

kjTide. 
To  all  clene  sowlys  I  am  full  hende, 
And  euer  present,  wer  }Jat  J>ey  be ; 
I  loue  my  lovers  with-owtyn  ende. 

That  J>er  loue  haue  stedfast  in  me. 

48 

The    prerogatyff    of    my    loue    ys    so 
grett, 
pat  wo  tastyt  l^er-of  ]>e  lest  droppe, 
sure. 
All    lustis    &    lykyngis    worldly    xall 
lett; 
They  xall  seme  to  hym  fylthe  and 

ordure, 
They   J'at    of   J^e   hewy    burthen    of 
synne  hathe  cure, 
My    loue    dyschargethe    &    pury- 
fyethe  clene, 
It  strengtheth   \>e  mynde,   pe   sowll 
makyt  pure, 
And  j^ewj't  Wysdom  to  hem  J)at 

perfvghte  bene. 
Who    takyt    me    to    spowse,    may 
veryly  wene — 

Yff   a-boue   all   thynge  he  loue 

me  specyally — 

That  rest  &  tranqwyilyte  he  xall 

sene. 

And  dey  in  sekj'rnes  of  joy  per- 

petualle.  60 

The  hye  worthyncs  of  my  loue, 

Angell  nor  man  can  tell  playnly; 
Yt  may  be  felt  from  experyens  a-boue. 


}>at  dejj  falle  pere-bye,  hit  schalle  not 
be  to  him  greuowse.  ffor,  soj^elye,  I 
am  euer  redye  to  him  )7at  lovejje  me 
for  to  loue  ajenewarde,  &  with  him  I 
am  present  in  chirche  &  atte  borde,  in 
pe  weye  &  in  cloyster  &  in  J^e  market, 
so  ]7at  Jjere  is  no  place  but  J?at  Jjere  is 
present  charite  (of)  godde.  »  *  *  *  ♦ 
Also  pe  sengulere  prerogatyfe  of  mye 
godenesse  and  loue  is  so  grete,  J>at, 
whoso  tastej>  per-of  Jjowh  hit  be  but 
one  lytele  drope,  aftere  J^at  he  schalle 
halde  alle  J^e  lustes  &  lykynges  of  Jje 
worlde  but  as  dritte.  Mye  love  des- 
charges  hem  J)at  bej>  ouerleyde  with 
pe  heve  birjjene  of  sinnes,  hit  puri- 
fye}?  &  makej?  clene  pe  conscience,  hit 
strengl?e]>  pe  mynde  &  pe  sowle,  hit 
3evi}?  fredam  to  hem  f)at  be})  par- 
fyte,  &  cowple})  &  knitte  hem  to  here 
euerlastynge  beginnynge.  And  what 
more:  who-so  take])  me  into  his 
spowse  &  louej)  me  above  alle  }>inge, 
he  lyve]?  with  tranquillyte  &  reste,  he 
deej)  with  sykernesse,  &  in  a  manere 
he  biginnef)  here  pe  blisse  &  pe  ioyes 
))at  schole  laste  euer  worlde  with-owte 
ende.  We  spekene  manye  J)inges  & 
3ite  we  faylene  in  owre  wordes:  for 
pe  hye  worJ)inesse  of  mye  love  |7ere 
maye  none  tunge  of  menne  ne  of 
awngeles  pleynlye  telle;  hit  maye  be 
in  experience  felt,  but  hit  may  not 
be  fullye  tolde  or  spokene;  &  J)ere- 
fore  alle  ])ees  wordes  of  pe  makynge 
of  goddelye  love  bej)  but  as  sodenlye 
raj)ere  owt  caste  J)an  in  effecte  plen- 
erlye  fulle  spokene.® 

2.  penne  ^^  seyde  pe  discyple  to 
him-selfe  pus:  'O  lorde  godde,  howe 
manye  gode  })inges  here  I  spokene, 
souereijnlye  fayre  and  worpi  spowse! 
Why  })anne  makest  J>ou  dissimulacione 
or  feynynge,  whye  assayest  not 
whe])er  J)ou  mayht  haue  hire  in  to 
Jji  amyke  or  loue?'  [five  lines  omitted.] 

And  })anne  euerlastynge  visdam 
with  a  gladde  &  graciose  chere  godelye 
saluede   hym   and   seyde   schortlye   in 


'Anglia,  X,  329-30. 

"In  Anglia  this  paragraph  immediately  follows  the  preceding  passage.  I  have 
made  a  new  section,  because  in  this  part  the  significant  expressions  are  fragmentary 
and  need  to  be  italicized. 


12 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


)jees  wordes:  'Fili,  prebe  mi  cor  tuum: 
Sone,  jiffe  me  l>i  herte!'" 

3.  [In  one  of  the  earlier  paragraphs 
of  the  treatise,  the  disciple  of  Wis- 
dom, after  having  studied  in  the 
schools  of  worldly  knowledge,  goes  to 
another  school,  over  the  door  of  which 
is  written]:  pis  is  J?e  scole  [of] 
sopfaste  diuinyte,  where  ]?e  maystresse 
is  euerlastynge  wisdam."  [When  the 
disciple  enters  the  school,  he  ad- 
dresses the  "mayster"] :  pou  euer- 
lastynge sovereyne  wisdam,  I  desyre 
and  aske  of  J^e  }?at  pou  teche  me  in 
schort  manere  pat  heuenelye  diuinite, 
pe  whiche  with-owt  errour  stande]> 
in  J)i  wisdam."  [To  this  request  Wis- 
dom replies] :  Mye  dere  sone,  wille 
pou  noht  sauere  in  kunynge  to  hye, 
but  drede!  here  me  nowe  and  I  schalle 
teche  pe  Jjinges  t>at  bej*  profitable  to 
J)e  *  *  *  *  *  Where-fore,  takynge  owre 
higinnynge  of  helefulle  disciplyne  at 
pe  drede  of  godde,  pe  wheche  is  pe 
beginnynge  of  wisdam,  I  schalle  teche 
pe  be  ordre  VII  poyntes  of  my 
loue." 


but   not   spoke   ne   tolde,   as   yt  ys 

verjiy ; 
The    Godly    loue,    no    creatur    can 

specyfye.  65 

Wisdom,  11.  69-70: 

Anima.    Q  worthy  spowse,  and  soue- 
ren  f  ayer, 
O    swet    Amyke,    owur    ioy,    owur 
blys! 

Wisdom,  1.  79: 

Wysdom.    Fili !  prebe  michi  cor  tuum ! 

Wisdom,  11.  86-90: 

[Anima.]      Teche    me    pe    scolys    of 

yowur  dyvynyte! 
Wysdom.     Dysyer   not   to   sauour   in 
cunnynge  to  excellent, 
But  drede  &  conforme  yowur  wyll 

to  me. 
For  yt  ys  pe  heelfull  dyscyplyne  l>at 
in  Wysdom  may  be, 

The  drede  of  God,  }?at  ys  begyn- 
nynge. 

From  a  comparison  of  11.  1-65  of  Wisdom  with  the  first  selec- 
tion from  the  Orologium,  it  is  clear  that  the  two  passages  corre- 
spond almost  word  for  word  in  entire  sentences.  Anima 's  saluta- 
tion in  11.  69-70  of  the  play  is  similar  to  the  italicized  parts  of  the 
second  selection  from  the  Orologium.  The  words  of  Wisdom : 
"Fili!  prebe  mi  cor  tuum,"  in  1.  79,  are  the  same  in  the  play  and 
in  the  treatise.  (The  Macro  Ms.  and  the  Orologium  have  the  form 
mi;  the  Digby  Ms.  has  michi  and  the  Vulgate,  mihi.  The  editors 
of  the  E.  E.  T.  S.  edition  of  the  play  have  used  the  form  from  the 
Digby  Ms.)  Finally,  11.  86-90  in  Wisdom  are  very  close  in  phrase- 
ology and  ideas  to  the  italicized  parts  of  the  third  selection  from  the 
Orologium.  The  expression,  "scolys  of  yowur  dyvynyte,"  in  1.  86, 
seems  out  of  keeping  with  its  context.  It  was  evidently  caught 
up  from  the  Orologium,,  where  different  schools  are  discussed,  and 
transferred  to  the  play  without  regard  to  its  relevancy.     The  in- 

"  Op.  cit.,  pp.  330-1. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  327. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  328.     The  "maystresse"  has  now  become  the  "mayster." 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  328. 


Sources  13 

evitable  conclusion  from  these  resemblances  is  that  one  writer 
borrowed  freely  from  the  work  of  the  other.  That  the  borrower 
was  the  author  of  the  play,  can  be  easily  shown. 

We  shall  first  examine  the  Orologiuni.  Concerning  the  author, 
little  is  known.  From  his  introduction  we  learn  that  he  was  the 
"trewe  chapeleyne"  of  a  "moste  worschipful  lady,"  who  had 
"excellente  wisdame  bothe  to  god  and  to  pe  worlde,"  and  that  he 
undertook  the  writing  of  the  treatise  at  the  request  of  this  lady  and 
of  other  devout  persons. ^^  Horstman  suggests  Richard  Rolle  of 
Hampole  as  the  author,  but  queries  the  suggestion.^"^  The  extract 
in  Ms.  Douce  322  (cap.  v  of  the  treatise)  is  also  attributed  to  Rolle 
in  the  Summary  Catalogue  of  Western  Mss.  in  the  Bodleian  Li- 
trary.  It  was  once  the  custom  to  ascribe  most  of  the  English 
mystical  writings  to  Rolle.  I  know  of  no  specific  evidence  that 
shows  the  treatise  to  be  his. 

In  regard  to  the  Orologium,  the  author  says :  "I  am  stirede  to 
wryte  aftere  myne  simple  kunnynge  ******  a  lytele  schort 
tretyse  of  euerelastynge  wisdam  &  J^e  trewe  loue  of  Jhesu,  drawne 
owt  in  englische  of  p&t  deuowt  contemplatyfe  boke  wrytene  cler- 
gialye  in  latyne  ]?e  whiche  is  clepede  J^e  Orloge  of  wisdame — &  ]?at 
name  was  jivene  ]?ere-to,  as  hit  is  seyde  in  pe  proheme  of  J?e  self 
boke,  bye-cause  ]?at  pe  matere  |7ere-of  was  schewede  to  him  |7at 
wrote  hit  as  in  a  visione  vndere  pe  fygure  and  liknesse  of  a  won- 
dere  fayre  Orloge,  sette  &  arayede  with  passynge  feyre  Roses,  and 
with  Cymbales  swete  sownynge,  ]?at  3evene  wondere  likyng  &  heuene- 
lye  sowne,  stirynge  and  excitynge  vpwarde  to  hevene  J^e  hertes  of 
alle  pat  hit  hyrne.  *  *  *  *  [The  name  of  the  author  of  the  Latin 
work]  is  vnknowen  to  vs,  but,  as  we  mowe  soj^elye  byleve,  hit  is 
wryten  in  pe  boke  of  lyfe;  Neuerlese,  as  hit  schewej?,  he  was  a 
frere  prechour.  *  *  *  *  [Since  many  matters  in  the  Latin  concern 
only  members  of  the  religious  orders]  J^ere-fore  I  leve  seche 
materes  &  take  onelye  I'at  me  J^inkeJ?  edifiyng  to  30we;  and  also  I 
folownot  pe  processe  of  j^at  boke  in  ordere,  but  I  take  J^e  materes 
in-sindrye,  as  ]?ei  acordene  to  mye  purpos.  Ne  I  translate  not  J^e 
wordes  as  ]?ei  bene  wrytene,  one  for  a  noj^ere,  ]7at  is  to  seye  pe  eng- 

«  Op.  cit.,  p.  325. 

"0.  Horstman,  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  x.  In  giving  Ilorstman's  name,  I 
have  followed  his  own  example,  using  the  German  form  in  references  to  Anglia,  and 
the  English  form  in  those  to  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole. 


14  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

lisehe  worde  for  ]>e  latyne  worde."  '^     Later,  he  names  the  Latin 
Mork  wliich  he  is  translating,  "Orologium  sapiencie."  ^^ 

Using  this  account  as  a  basis,  Horstmann  says:  "Der  englische 
text  nennt  sich  einen  auszug  aus  dem  lateinischen  Orologium 
Sapientiae,  dessen  verfasser,  ein  Dominikanermonch,  unbekannt  sei. 
Das  lateinische  original  ist  bis  jetzt  noch  unbekannt.  Dagegen  ist 
im  ms.  Harl.  4386  (15.  jahrhundert)  ein  franzosischer  text  erhal- 
ten  mit  dem  titel :  Cy  comence  le  liure  qui  est  dit  orloge  de  sap- 
ience, lequel  fist  frere  Jelian  de  soushauie  de  I'ordre  des  frere 
prescheurs. ' '  ^^  Later,  he  quotes  W.  Blades  as  follows :  ' '  Little  is 
known  of  Jehan  de  Soushavie,  or  Souaube,  as  a  French  copy  has  it. 
Bibliographers  generally  call  him  Henry  de  Suso."  -° 

According  to  Horstmann,  then,  at  the  time  the  foregoing  com- 
ments were  written  (1888),  the  Latin  original  was  unknown.  In 
the  introduction  to  his  edition  of  Richard  Rolle's  works,  published 
in  1896,  he  calls  the  treatise  printed  in  Anglia  an  English  re- 
production of  Heinrich  Suso's  "Buch  von  der  gottlichen  Weis- 
heit."  ^^  This  work  by  Suso  (the  proper  title  of  which  is  "Biichlein 
der  ewigen  Weisheit")  is,  however,  in  German,  not  in  Latin  (see 
p.  16),  and  cannot,  therefore,  be  the  original  of  the  English  treatise. 
There  was,  however,  a  Latin  Orologium  Sapientiae,  by  Henry 
Suso,  which  was  very  popular  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This 
Latin  Orologium  is  undoubtedly  the  original  of  the  English  treatise. 
Compare,  for  example,  what  is  said  about  the  name  "Orloge"  in 
the  English  extract  quoted  above,  with  the  following  passage  from 
the  prologue  in  a  copy  of  the  Latin  work  in  the  British  Museum : 
"Unde  presens  opusculum  in  visione  quadam  sub  cuiusdam  horo- 
logii  pulcherrimi  rosis  speciosissimis  decorati  &  cymbalorum  bene 
sonantium  ae  suavem  &  celestem  sonum  reddentium  cunctorumque 
corda  sursum  moventium  varietate  perornati  figura  dignata  est 
michi  ostendere  dementia  salvatoris. ' '  ^^ 

Compare  also  the  passage  on  p.  11  beginning:  "Also  pe  sen- 
gulere  prerogatyfe  of  mye  godenesse  and  loue  is  so  grete,  etc 


"  Anglia,  p.  325. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  326. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  323. 

»°  Op.  cit.,  p.  324. 

"  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  xliii.  ^ 

"The  book  has  the  Museum  press  mark,  lA.  39278;  the  pages  are  not  numbered. 


Sources  15 

with  the  following:  "Rursus  tanta  est  bonitatis  mee  prerogativa 
singularis  vt  si  quis  ex  ea  vel  modicam  guttam  ad  gustandum 
susceperit  de  cetero  huius  mundi  oblectamenta  tanquam  stercus 
reputabit.  Amor  meus  peccatorum  sarcinis  oneratos  exonerat: 
conseientiam  purificat,  mentem  corroborat,  perfeetis  libertatem 
donat,  et  ipsos  suo  eterno  copulat  principio.  Quid  plura.  Qui 
me  sibi  sponsam  aceepit  meque  super  omnia  diligit  viuit  cum 
transquilitate,  moritur  cum  securitate,  et  quodammodo  in  presenti 
gaudia  inchoat,  que  per  eterna  seeula  durant."^^  The  English 
is  a  close  translation  of  this  passage. 

There  are  many  other  correspondences  as  close  as  those  just 
given.  These,  however,  are  sufficient  to  show  that  the  Latin 
Orologium  Sapientiae  which  we  have  here  is  the  original  of  the 
English  treatise.  The  author  of  the  latter,  as  he  points  out  in  his 
introduction,  does  not  always  make  a  literal  translation,  but  omits, 
rearranges,  and  makes  other  changes  to  suit  his  purpose. 

This  Latin  Orologium  was  pretty  certainly  written  by  Henry 
Suso.  The  English  translator  says  that  the  name  of  the  author  is 
unknown,  but  that  he  was  a  "frere  prechour."  The  British  Mus- 
eum copy  of  the  Latin  work,  lA.  39278,  omits  the  name  of  the 
author,  designating  him  in  the  colophon  simply  as  one  "de  ordine 
predicatorum. "  There  is  no  title  page.  The  Museum  catalogue 
gives  as  the  author,  "Henricus  Suso,"  and  as  the  probable  date 
of  printing,  1480.  The  copy  marked  lA.  4163  is  also  without  the 
name  and  the  date,  which  are  given  in  the  catalogue  just  the  same 
as  for  lA.  39278.  Copy  848.  b.  21,  which  has  the  date  1509  at  the 
end,  is  ascribed  in  the  catalogue  but  not  in  the  book  itself  to 
"Henricus  Suso."  Copy  lA.  24148,  for  which  the  catalogue 
gives  the  date  1492,  is  the  only  copy  which  I  have  seen  in  which 
the  name  of  the  author  is  given.  The  prologue  begins:  "Incipit 
prologus  in  librum  qui  intitulatur  horologium  sapientie  editum 
a  beato  henrico  siso  viro  sanctissimo  ordinis  sacri  predicatorum." 
The  French  version  to  which  Horstmann  refers  states  that  the  author 
was  "frere  Jehan  de  sousliauie  de  I'ordre  des  frere  preseheurs," 
whom  W.  Blades  identifies  with  Henry  de  Suso.  The  number  of 
editions  in  which  the  author's  name  is  omitted,  and  the  fact  that 
the  English  translator  did  not  know  it,  would  seem  to  indicate 

*' Orologium  Sapientiae,  Brit.  Mus.  copy  lA.  39278,  cap.  vi. 


16  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

tliat  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  work  was  not  generally  known  to 
be  by  Suso.  In  lA.  24148  and  in  the  French  translation,  both  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  it  is  ascribed  to  him,  and  at  present  it  is 
universally  so  ascribed. 

Henry  Suso,  a  famous  German  mystic,  was  born  in  Constance 
(probably),  in  1295  (in  1300  according  to  some  writers).  At  the 
age  of  thirteen  he  entered  a  Dominican  convent  at  Constance,  and 
later  went  to  Cologne  to  study.  From  1339  to  1346  he  was  in 
Diessehoven,  where  he  was  prior.  The  last  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  in  a  convent  at  Ulm,  where  he  died  in  1366.  He  was  beati- 
fied in  1831.2*  ]\rost  of  his  writings  are  in  German,  but  the 
Orologium  Sapientiae  is  in  Latin.  It  is  a  revision,  with  so  many 
changes  as  to  be  practically  a  new  work,  of  his  German  Bilchlein 
der  ewigen  Weisheit.  Its  popularity  is  shown  by  the  number  of 
editions  and  translations,  a  list  of  which  is  given  by  Bihlmeyer.^^ 
The  Orologium  was  finished  sometime  after  1333.-*' 

After  this  somewhat  extended  examination  of  the  English, 
Orologium  and  its  Latin  original,  we  now  return  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  relation  between  the  English  version  and  the  play  of 
Wisdom.  We  saw  from  a  comparison  of  the  two,  that  one  writer 
must  have  made  free  use  of  the  work  of  the  other.  The  question 
as  to  which  was  the  borrower  has  now  been  decided.  Evidently  it 
was  the  author  of  Wisdom,  for  the  English  Orologium  is  avowedly 
a  translation  of  a  Latin  work  ^or,  better,  an  adaptation  from  it), 
which  has  been  shown  to  belong  to  the  previous  century.  This  fact 
in  itself  is  convincing  proof,  but  there  is  further  corroborative  evi- 
dence. Lines  1-2  of  the  play,  "Yff  je  wyll  wet  |7e  propyrte  Ande 
]?e  resun  of  my  nayme  imperyall,"  seem  too  abrupt  for  opening 
lines;  in  the  treatise,  Avhere  the  form  is  similar,  the  expression  is 
preceded  by  the  disciple's  request  that  Wisdom  shall  relate  the 
"properte"  of  his  name,  and  the  form  is  therefore  natural.  Again 
in  1.  79,  Wisdom  addresses  Anima  as  "Fili,"  although  she  is  a 
maid ;  in  the  treatise,  Wisdom  is  speaking  to  a  male  disciple.  The 
value  of  this  bit  of  evidence  is  lessened  by  the  fact  that  Wisdom  is 

"Karl  Bihlmeyer,  Eeinrich  Sense,  Deutsche  Schriften  (Stuttgart,  1907),  pp.  63  flf., 
in  the  Introduction.  This  is  the  latest  and  best  edition  of  Suso's  German  works ;  it 
does  not  include  the  Latin   Orologium. 

^  Op.  cit.,  Introduction,  pp.  163  and  157-8. 

"  Op.  cit..  Introduction,  p.   108. 


Sources  17 

using  a  biblical  quotation  and  might  keep  the  original  form  in 
spite  of  the  inconsistency;  nevertheless,  as  corroborative  evidence, 
the  inconsistency  is  worthy  of  notice.  Finally,  the  words,  "Thus 
Wysdom  be-gane,"  in  1.  16,  are  irrelevant,  since  they  are  given  as 
a  part  of  the  speech  of  Wisdom  himself.  In  the  treatise,  the  corre- 
sponding passage  reads:  "Wyfe  of  euerye- chosene  sowle,  )7at  maye 
seye  of  euerlastyng  wisdam  in  J^ees  wordes  of  ]?e  boke  of  wisdam: 
hanc  amaui,  etc."  The  author  of  the  play  apparently  mis-read  the 
expression:  ")?at  maye  seye  of  euerlastyng  wisdam." 

All  the  evidence,  therefore,  points  to  the  English  Orologium 
Sapientiae,  or  The  Seuene  Poyntes  of  Trewe  Loue  and  Euerlastynge 
Wisdame,  as  one  of  the  sources  of  Wisdom.-'^ 

WALTER  HILTON'S  SCALA  PEBFECTIONIS 
Another  source  of  Wisdom  is  the  Scala  Perfectionis,  written 
by  Walter  Hilton,  one  of  the  most  popular  of  the  English  mystics. 
Practically  nothing  is  known  of  Hilton's  life  beyond  the  fact  that 
he  belonged  to  a  house  of  Augustinian  canons  at  Thurgarton,  in 
Nottinghamshire,  and  that  he  died  in  1396.  It  was  formerly 
thought  that  he  was  a  member  of  the  Carthusian  order,  but  this 
idea  was  erroneous.  His  best-known  work  is  the  Scala  Perfectionis, 
which  was  written  originally  in  English,  and  later  translated  into 
Latin  by  Thomas  Fyslawe,  a  friar  of  the  Carmelite  order,  under 
the  title  Baculum  Contemplationis,  or  Speculum  Contemplationis. 
The  English  version  is  extant  in  a  number  of  manuscripts,  eight  of 
which  are  in  the  Harleian  collection  in  the  British  Museum,  and 
three  in  the  Rawlinsonian  collection  at  the  Bodleian  library.  This 
English  version  was  printed  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde  in  1494,  1519, 
1525,  and  1533;  by  Pynson  in  1506;  and  by  Julian  Notary  in 
1507.  Editions  with  modernized  spelling  were  issued  by  S.  Cressy 
in  1659,  R.  E.  Guy  in  1869,  and  J.  B.  Dalgairns  in  1870.  The  most 
accessible  edition  is  one  published  in  1908  by  the  Westminster  Art 
and  Book  Company;  this  is  a  reprint  of  Cressy 's  modernized  text. 
The  quotations  given  below  are  from  the  British  Museum  copy, 
C.  25.  g.  16,  the  printer,  place,  and  date  of  which  are  given  in  the 
Museum  catalogue  as  "Julian  Notary.  London.  1507." 

Hilton  was  the  author  of  a  number  of  other  works,  a  list  of 

"  Another  passage  from  the  English  Orologium  may  have  suggested  the  idea  in 
11.  1097-1105  of  Wisdom  (see  p.  38). 


18  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

which  is  given  in  the  article  on  this  writer  in  the  Dictionary  of 
National  Biography.  The  only  one  of  these  with  which  we  are 
particularly  concerned  is  the  Epistle  on  the  Mixed  Life,  which  in 
some  manuscripts  is  called  "A  deuout  boke  corapyled  by  mayster 
"Walter  Hylton  to  a  denont  man  in  temperal  estate,  how  he  sholde 
rule  liym,"  and  in  others,  "A  luitel  Boc  pat  was  writen  to  a 
worldli  lord  to  teche  him  hou  he  schulde  haue  him  in  his  state  in 
ordeynd  loue  to  god  and  to  his  euencristene. "  The  article  in  the 
Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  new  edition,  says  that  these 
are  not  the  same  treatise,  and  that  the  second  is  probably  the  work 
not  of  Hilton,  but  of  Richard  Rolle.  This  statement  is  not  cor- 
rect; the  two  treatises  are  the  same,  as  may  be  seen  by  comparing 
the  first  pages  of  the  treatise  from  Ms.  Reg.  17.  C.  xviii,  printed  by 
Perry  in  English  Prose  Treatises,'^  with  the  "luitel  Boc"  from  Ms. 
Vernon,  and  the  "deuout  Boke"  from  Notary's  edition  of  1507, 
both  printed  by  Horstman,-^  the  former  complete,  the  latter  in 
part.  The  "luitel  Boc"  in  Ms.  Vernon  is  without  the  introduction 
wliich  is  found  in  both  Ms.  Reg.  and  Notary 's  edition ;  but  the  body 
of  the  treatise  is,  with  some  dialectal  differences,  the  same  in  all. 
In  most  of  the  editions  of  Hilton's  works,  the  Epistle  is  printed 
with  the  Scala.  I  have  used  Horstman  's  reprint  from  Ms.  Vernon.^" 
The  relationship  between  Wisdofn  and  the  Scala  Perfectionis 
is  shown  by  the  following  parallels: 

Whdom,  11.  103-70;  [Anima  has  asked  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  i  (cf.  Wis- 

what  a  soul  is] :  dom,  11.    103-6)  : 

Wysdom.     Yt  ys  Pe  ymage  of  Code,  f^^    thy    soule    &    my    soule    and 

l^at  all  be-gan;                          103  "^     ,  ,            ,      ."' 

.     ,       .       1                  .     .  u      11  every    resonable    soule    is    an    ymage, 

And  not  only  jTnage,  but  hys  lyknes  ,     ,                    ,                        „ 

,g  jjj,g  and  that  a  worthy  ymage  /  for  it  is 

Off  all  creaturis,  pe  fayrest  je  ware,  the  ymage  of  god  as  ye  apostle  sayth 

In-to  ]>e  tyme  of  Adamys  offence.  /    Vir   est   ymago    dei   /   That   is    to 

Anima.      Lorde!     sythe     we,     thy  saye  /  A  man  is  the  ymage  of  god 

sowlys  J?at  nowt  wer  per,  ^nd  made   to   the  ymage   and   to   the 

Wy   of  ]>e   fyrst  man  bye  we  Je  j^^^^   of  hym.   *   *   *   *   This  ymage 

vyolence?                                    108  "^     ,     .          •'                „        ,  .           „      . 

made  to  ye  ymage  of  god  in  ye  fyrst 

Wysdom.     For  euery  creatur  l^at  hath       shapynge     was     wonderly     fayre     & 
ben,  or  xall,  bryghtful  of  brennyng  love  &  ghostly 

"  G.  G.  Perry,  English  Prose  Treatises  of  Richard  Rolle  de  Hampole,  E.  E.  T.  S., 
pp.  19  ff. 

*»  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  264  ft. 

*"  For  facts  about  Hilton  and  his  work,  see  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography, 
new  edition;  bibliography  in  the  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  II,  542;  and 
Publishers'  Note  in  Westminster  edition  of  1908. 


Sources 


19 


Was    in    natur    of    ]>e    fyrst    man, 
Adame, 
Off  hym  takynge  J>e   fylthe  of  synne 
orygynall, 
For  of  hj-m  all  creaturis  cam. 
Than,    by    hym,    of    reson    je    haue 
blame, 
And  be  made  pe  brondis  of  helle 
Wen    36    be    bore    fyrst    of    yowur 
dame, 
je  may  in  no  wyse  in  hewyn  dwell, 

116 

For  je  be  dysvyguryde  be  hys  synne, 

Ande    dammyde    to    derknes    from 

Godls  syghte. 

Anima.     How  dothe  grace  l?an  ageyn 

be-gynne? 

Wat    reformythe    J)e    sowU    to    hys 

fyrste  lyght? 
Wysdom.     Wysdam,  J)at  was  Gode 
&  man  ryght. 
Made  a  full  sethe  to  ]>e  fadyr  of 
hewyn, 
By  pe  dredfull  dethe,  to  hym  was 
dyght; 
Off  wyche  dethe,  spronge  Jje  sac- 
ramentis  sevyn;  124 

Wyche  sacramentis,  all  sj'nne  wasche 
a-wey : 
Fyrst,     bapteme     clensythe     synne 
orygj-nall. 
And    reformyt    ]>e    sowU,    in    feythe 
verray, 
To  J>e  gloryus  lyknes  of  Gode  eter- 

nall, 
Ande    makyt   yt    as    fayer    and    as 
celestyall 
As  yt  neuer  dyffowlyde  had  be, 
Ande  ys  Crystis  own  specyall, 
Hys   restynge   place,   hys   plesant 
see.  132 

Anima.     In  a  sowle,  watt  thyngis  be, 
By  wyche  he  bathe  hys  very  know- 
ynge? 
Wysdom.    Tweyn  partyes:  J»e  on,  sen- 
sualyte, 
Wyche  ys  clepyde  J^e  flechly  felynge ; 
The  V,  owtewarde  wyttis  to  hym  be 
serwynge. 
Wan   ^ey    be    not    rewlyde    ordy- 
natly ; 


lyjt.  but  thorough  synne  of  the 
fyrst  man  adam  it  was  dysfygured 
and  forshapen  into  a  nother  lyknes. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  ii  (cf. 
Wisdom,  U.    109-24): 

Now  it  is  sooth  mankynde  that  was 
hole  in  adam  the  fyrste  man  tres- 
passed agaynste  god  so  wonder  grev- 
ously  whan  it  forfeyted  ye  specyal 
byddynge  of  hym  /  and  assented  to 
the  false  counsayle  of  the  fende  /  that 
it  deserved  ryghtfully  for  to  have  be 
departed  fro  hym  and  dampned  to 
helle  withouten  ende.  so  fer  forth 
that  stondynge  the  ryghtwysnes  of 
god  it  myght  not  be  foryeven  /  but 
yf  amendes  were  fyrste  made  and  full 
satysfaccyon  therfore.  [No  one  but 
Christ  could  make  these  amends  and 
he  only  by  taking  on  man's  nature.] 
Then  syth  that  our  lorde  Jhesu  god 
&  man  deyed  thus  for  salvacyon  of 
mannes  soiile.  it  is  ryghtful  that  syn 
sholde  be  foryeven  &  mannes  soule 
that  was  his  ymage  sholde  now  be  re- 
formed &  restored  to  the  fyrst  lyknes 
&  to  the  blysse  of  heven. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  vi 
(cf.   Wisdom,  11.    125-30) : 

[There  are  two  kinds  of  sin — ori- 
ginal and  actual — for  which  there  are 
two  remedies.]  One  is  ye  sacramente 
of  bapty[s]m  ayenste  orygynal  synne 
/  another  is  the  sacramente  of  pen- 
aunce  ayenst  actuel  synne  /  A  soule 
of  a  chylde  that  is  borne  and  is  un- 
crystenyd  by  cause  of  orygynal  synne 
hath  no  lyckenesse  of  god  /  He  is 
nought  but  an  ymage  of  the  fende  & 
a  bronde  of  helle  [cf.  Wisdom,  11. 
114-6].  But  as  soone  as  it  is  crys- 
tened  it  is  refourmed  to  the  ymage 
of  god  and  thorugh  the  vertue  of 
fayth  of  holy  chyrche  sodeynly  it  is 
tourned  fro  the  lyckenesse  of  ye 
fende  &  made  lyke  an  angel  of 
heven. 


20 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


The      scnsualyte      Jjan,      with-owte 
lesynge, 
Is  made  \>e  ymage  of  synne,  then 
of  hys  foly.  140 

The     other     parte,     l>at     ys     clepyde 
'sesone,' 
Ande    l?at    ys    ]>e    ymage    of    Gode 
propyrly, 
For  by  Jjat,  ^e  sowll,  of  Gode  hathe 
conycion, 
And  be  put,  hym  serwyt  &  louevyt 

duly. 
Be   J^e   neyther  parte   of  reson,  he 
knowyt  dyscretly 
All  erthely  thyngis,  how  J?ey  xall 
be  vsyde, 
Wat  suffysyth  to  hys  myghtls  bode- 

Ande    wat    nedyt    not   to    be    re- 
f  usyde ;  148 

Thes  tweyn  do  sygnyfye 

Yowur  dysgysynge  &  yowur  a-ray, 
Blake  &  wyght,  fowU  &  fayer,  verey- 

ly; 

Euery  sowll  her, — }5is  ys  no  nay, — 
'Blake,'   by   sterynge   of  synne,   J^at 
cummyth  all  day, 
Wyche  felynge  cummythe  of  sen- 
sualyte; 
Ande  'wyght,'  by  knowenge  of  re- 
son  veray 
Off  ]>e  blyssyde  infenyt  deyte,  156 

Thus    a    sowle    ys    bothe    fowlle    & 

fayer : 

FowU    as    a    best,    be    felynge    of 

synne ; 

Fayer  as  a  angell,  of  hewyn  pe  ayer, 

By  knowynge  of  Gode,  by  hys  reson 

with-in. 
Anima.     Than  may  I   sey  thus,   & 
be-gynne 
With   V.   prudent  vyrgyns   of  ray 
reme; 
Then,  be  pe  v.  wyttis  of  my  sowll 
with-inne, 
'Nigra  siun,  sed  formosa,  fllia[e] 
Jerusalem.'  164 

Her     enteryd      v      vyrgynes     with 
[white]    kertyllys    &    mantelys,    with 


Also  ScaJa.  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xiii 
(cf.  Wudom,  11.    133-48) : 

For  thou  shalt  understonde  that  a 
soule  hath  two  partyes  /  That  one  is 
called  sensualyte  &  that  is  flesshly  fel- 
ynge by  the  fyve  outwarde  wyttes  /  the 
whiche  is  comon  to  man  &  to  beest  /  Of 
the  whiche  sensualyte  whan  it  is  unskyl- 
fully  and  unordynatly  ruled  is  made 
the  ymage  of  synne  /  whan  it  is  not 
ruled  after  reason  /  for  thenne  is 
the  sensualyte  synne.  That  other 
partye  is  called  reason  /  &  that  is 
departed  in  two  /  In  the  over  partye 
&  in  ye  nether  /  The  over  partye  is 
lyckened  to  a  man  /  for  it  sholde  be 
mayster  and  sovereyne  and  that  is 
propyrly  the  ymage  of  god  /  For  by 
that  only  the  soule  knoviyth  god  and 
lovyth  hym  /  And  the  neyther  is 
lyckened  to  a  woman  /  for  it  sholde 
be  buxum  to  the  over  partye  of  rey- 
son  /  as  woman  is  buxum  to  man  / 
and  that  lyeth  in  knowynge  and 
rulynge  of  erthly  thynges:  for  to  use 
hem  dyscretly  after  nede.  and  for  to 
refuse  hem  whan  it  is  no  nede. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xii 
(cf.  Wisdom,  11.    148-70): 

Fayr  is  mannes  soule  &  fowle  is  a 
mannes  soule.  Fayr  in  as  moche  as 
it  is  refourmed  in  fayth  to  ye  lycke- 
nes  of  god  /  But  it  is  foule  in  as 
moche  as  it  is  medlyd  with  flesshly 
felynges  &  unskylful  styrynges  of  the 
ymage  of  syn  /  Foule  without  as  it 
were  a  beest  /  fayre  within  lyke  to  an 
angel  /  Foule  in  felyng  of  the  sen- 
sualyte fayre  in  trouth  of  the  rea- 
son /  Foule  for  the  flesshly  appetyte. 
fayre  for  the  good  wyl  /  Thus  fayre 
&  thus  foule  is  a  chosen  soule  / 
sayenge  holy  wrytte  thus  /  Nigra  sum 
sed  formosa  filie  Jerusalem  sicut  tab- 
ernacula  cedar  et  sicut  pellis  salo- 
monis  /    That  is.     I  am  blacke  but  I 


Sources 


21 


cheu[elers]  &  chappelettis,  and  synge 
'Nigra  sum,  sed  formosa,  filia[e]  Je- 
rusalem, si  [cut]  tabernacula  Cedar,  & 
sicut  pelles  Salamonis.' 

Anima.     The  doughters  of  Jerusalem 
me  not  lake 
For  J)is   dyrke   schadow    I   here   of 
humanyte, 
That,    as    pe    tabernacull    of    Cedar, 
with-owt,  yt  ys  blake. 
And  with-Ine   as  ])e  skyn  of  Sala- 

mone,  full  of  bewty. 
*Quod  fusca  sum,  nolite  considerare 
me, 
Quia  decolorauit  me  sol  Jouis.'   170 

Wisdom,  11.    1121-44: 
Mynde.       Haue    mynde,    Soule,    wat 
Code  hath  do!  1121 

Reformyde  yow  in  feyth  veryly; 
'Nolite  confirmare  huic  seculo, 

Sed  reformanini  in  nouitatem  spir- 

itus  sensus  vestri:' 
Conforme  yow  not  to  J>is  pompyus 
glory. 
But  reforme  in  gostly  felynge. 
Ye    J'at    were    damnyde    by    synne 
endelesly, 
Mercy  hathe  reformyde  yow,  ande 
crownyde  as  a  kynge.  1128 

Wndyrstondynge.    Take   vndyrStond- 
ynge,  Soule,  now  ye 
With    contynualle    hope    in    Godys 
be-hest. 
'Renouamini  spiritu  mentis  vestre, 
Et    Induite    nouum    hominem,    qui 

secundum  Deum  creatus  est:' 
Ye  be  reformyde  in  felynge,  not  on- 
ly as  a  best, 
But    also    in    pe    ouer    parte    of 
yowur  reasun. 
Be  wyche  ye  haue  lyknes  of  Gode 
mest. 


am  fayre  &  shaply  ye  doughter  of 
Jherusalem  as  ye  tabernacles  of  cedar 
as  the  skynne  of  Salomon  /  That  is 
ye  angels  of  heven  that  arne  dough- 
ters of  the  hye  Jerusalem  wonder  not 
me    ne    dyspyse    me    not    for   my 


on 

blacke  shadowe  /  For  though  I  be 
blacke  without  by  cause  of  my  flessh- 
ly  kynde  as  is  a  tabernacle  of  cedar  / 
Nevertheles  I  am  ful  fayre  within 
as  the  skynne  of  Salomon.  *  *  *  * 
For  so  sayth  he  in  another  place  / 
Nolite  considerare  me  quod  fusca 
sum,  quia  decoloravit  me  sol.*^ 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xxxi: 
[Hilton  has  been  treating  of  re- 
forming in  faith  and  has  touched  upon 
reforming  in  feeling.  He  continues] : 
Nolite  conformari  huic  seculo  sed  re- 
formamini  in  novitate  sensus  vestri  / 
That  is:  ye  that  are  thrugh  grace  re- 
fourmed  in  fayth  conforme  you  not 
hensforwarde  to  the  maners  of  the 
worlde  in  pride  in  covetyse  and  in 
other  sj'nnes.  but  be  ye  refourmed 
in  newehede  of  felynge.  *****  [In 
the  soul  are  three  mights:  riiind,  rea- 
son, and  will].  Whan  thyse  myghtes 
are  thrugh  grace  fulfylled  in  al  un- 
derstondynge  of  the  wj'^U  of  god  and 
ghosth^  wysdom  thenne  hath  the 
soule  newe  gracyous  felynges  /  That 
this  is  soth  he  [St.  Paul]  sheweth  in 
a  nother  place  thus  /  Renovamini 
spiritu  mentis  vestre  &  induite  novum 
hominem  qui  secundum  deum  creatus 
est  in  iusticia:  sanctitate'-  [(?)  See 
Ephes.  IV,  24]  et  veritate.  Be  ye 
renued  in  spiryte  of  your  soule  /  That 
is:  ye  shall  be  refourmed  not  in  bodi- 
ly felynge  ne  in  jTnaginacion  but  in 
the  over  partye  of  your  reason  /  And 

»>  See  also  T.  Hoccleve,  Mnralization  of  the  .Story  of  Jonathas,  in  the  E.  K.  T.  S. 
edition  of  his  works,  I,  241:  "Right  so  of  the  soule,  which  is  in  bittirnesse  for  the 
wroght  offense  and  synne.  wherof  it  is  seid  in  the  figure  and  liknesse  of  the  soule: 
'Blake  y  am,  but  y  am  fair,'  jjat  is  to  seyn,  blake  in  body,  and  fair  in  soule." 

"  The  copy  of  the  Scala  from  which  this  passage  was  taken  has  "scitate." 


22 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


Ande  of  Jjat  mercyfuU  very  cong- 
nycion.  1136 

Wyix.     Now  \>e  Soule  yn  charyte  re- 
formyde  ys; 
With  charyte  ys  Gode  verely,    # 
Exspoliantem   veterem   hominem   cum 
actibus  suis, 
Spoyll   yow  of  yowur  olde  synnys 

&  foly, 
[et  induentes  novum,   eum  qui  re- 
novatur  in   agnitionem,] 
Ande  be  renuyde  in  Gode  know- 
ynge  a-geyn, 
That,   enduyde   with   grace   so   spe- 
cyally, 
Conseruynge  in  peyn,  euer  inblys 
for  to  reyn.  1144 

Wisdom,  11,  1153-63: 
Now,   with   sent   Powie,   we   may   sey 
thus,  1153 

pat   be    reformyde    thorow    feythe    in 

Jhesus: 
We  haue  peas  &  a-corde  betwyx  Gode 
&  ws, 
'Justificati    ex    fide,    pacem    habea- 

mus  ad  Deimi;' 
Now    to    Salomonys    conclusyon    I 
com, 
'Timor  domini  inicium  sapiencie.' 

1158 

'Vobis  qui  timetis  Deum, 
Orietur  sol  Justicie;' 
The  tru  son  of  ryghtusnes, 
Wyche  Jjat  ys  one  lorde  Jhesu, 
Xall  sprynge  in  hem  }>at  drede  hys 
meknes.  1163 

Wisdom,  1.    231: 

Wan  gode  wj'U  resythe,  Gode  ys  in 
ws  knett. 


clothe  you  in  a  newe  man  that  is 
shapen  after  god  in  rightvirysnes  holi- 
nesse  and  sothfastnesse  /  That  is: 
your  reason  that  is  properly  the  ym- 
age  of  god  thrugh  grace  of  the  holy 
ghoste  shall  be  clothed  in  a  newe 
lyghte  of  sotlifastnesse.  holynes.  and 
ryghtwysnes  /  And  thenne  it  is  re- 
formed in  felynge  /  For  whan  the 
soule  hath  perfyte  knowynge  of  god 
thenne  it  is  refourmed  /  Thus  sayth 
saynt  poul  /  Expoliantes  veterem 
hominem  cum  actibus  suis  induite 
novum  qui  renovatur  in  agnicionem 
dei  secundiun  ymagynem  eius  creavit 
eum  /  Spoyle  yourself  of  ye  olde 
man  with  al  his  dedes.  That  is  cast 
fro  you  ye  love  of  ye  worlde  with  al 
worldly  maners.  And  clothe  you  in 
a  newe  man.  That  is:  ye  shal  be  re- 
newed in  ye  knowynge  of  god  after 
ye  lyckenes  of  hym  that  made  you. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  ix: 
As  saynt  poul  sayth  /  Justificati  ex 
fide  pacem  habemus  ad  deum  /  That 
is:  we  that  arn  ryghted  &  refourmed 
thorugh  faythe  in  cryst  hathe  pees  & 
accorde  made  betwyx  god  &  us. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xxvi: 
Thus  sayth  holy  wryte  /  Vobis  qui 
timetis  deum  orietur  sol  iusticie:  ye 
true  Sonne  of  rightwysnes  that  is  our 
lorde  Jhesu  shal  sprynge  to  you  that 
dreden  hjTii  /  that  is  to  meke  soules 
that  meken  hemsel  under  her  even- 
cristen  by  knowinge  of  her  owne 
wretchydnesse. 

Also  Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  I,  cap.  xii: 
The   knyttynge    &    ye    fastynge    of 

Jhesu  to  a  mannes  soule:  is  by  good 

wyl. 


In  the  preceding  passages  from  Wisdom  and  the  Scala  Per- 
fectionis,  lines  103-33  in  the  play  show  fewer  correspondences  to 
the  treatise  than  do  the  other  lines,  but  even  here  the  relationship 
is  evident.     The  similarity,  both  in  phraseology  and  in  ideas,  be- 


Sources  23 

tween  lines  133-70  and  the  treatise  is  so  clear  that  no  comment  is 
needed.  Lines  1121-44  and  1153-63  contain  a  number  of  Biblical 
texts,  in  Latin,  which  are  also  in  the  Scala.  These  texts  do  not  in 
themselves  show  any  direct  relationship  between  the  play  and  the 
treatise,  for  the  two  writers  might  have  taken  them  independently 
from  the  Bible.  The  translations,  or  paraphrases,  of  the  texts, 
however,  have  parallel  expressions  which  point  to  a  direct  con- 
nection. Compare,  for  example,  the  paraphrases  -of  the  Latin, 
"Vobis  qui  timetis  Deum,"  etc.  (11.  1159  ff.),  which  are  almost 
identical  in  the  play  and  in  the  Scala,  and  are  free  and  elaborated 
renderings  of  3IalacM  IV,  2.  Then,  too,  the  arrangement  of  the 
texts  is  significant.  The  first  three  (11.  1123,  1131,  and  1139), 
taken  from  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans,  the  Ephesians,  and  the 
Colossi ans,  respectively,  occur  in  the  same  order  in  the  two  works. 
The  agreement  in  phraseology,  and  in  the  choice  and  arrange- 
ment of  material,  therefore,  shows  that  Hilton's  Scala  Perfectionis 
— the  earlier  work —  is  one  of  the  sources  of  Wisdom. 

There  are  still  other  passages  in  the  Scala  in  which  the  ideas  are 
similar  to  those  in  the  play,  but  the  phraseology  is  different.  Al- 
though these  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  direct  sources,  I  have  placed 
them  here  in  order  to  get  all  the  material  relating  to  Hilton  to- 
gether, and  in  this  way  show  just  how  much  our  author  may  have 
been  indebted  to  him.  Inasmuch  as  the  Scala  is  certainly  one  of 
the  sources  of  the  play,  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  some  of  the  ideas 
in  the  latter  were  suggested  by  corresponding  ideas  in  the  treatise, 
even  though  the  phraseology  is  not  parallel.     The  passages  follow: 

Wisdom,  11.  95-8: 

Wysdom.     By  knowynge  of  yowur  sylff,  je  may  haue  felynge 
Wat  Gode  ys  in  yowur  sowle  sensyble; 
The  more  knowynge  of  yowur  selif  passyble, 
]>e  more  verjly  je  xall  God  knowe. 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  I,  cap.  xl: 

But  thou  Shalt  yf  thou  wylte  begynne  a  newe  game  &  a  newe  traveyle  / 
And  that  is  for  to  entre  within  in  to  thyn  owne  soule  by  medytacion  for  to 
knowe  what  it  is  /  And  by  the  knowj^ng  therof  to  come  to  the  ghostly 
knowynge  of  god." 

"The  phraseology  in  the  play  is  more  like  that  of  a  passage  in  St.  Bernard's  (?) 
Meditations   (see  p.  29). 


24  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Wisdom,  11.  177-8: 

Thre  myghtis,  euery  cresten  sowlHias, 

Wyche  bethe  applyede  to  pe  trinyte. 

[These  are  then  named:   Mynde,  Wyll,  and  Vnderstondynge.] 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  I,  cap.  xliii: 

The  soule  of  a  man  is  a  lyf  made  of  thre  myghtes  mynde  reason  &  wyl. 
to  the  ymage  &  the  lyknes  of  the  blessyd  trynyte.'? 


Wisdom,  II.  205-6: 

[Mykde.]     I  seke  &  fynde  no-wer  comforte. 

But  only  in  Gode,  my  creatur. 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  I,  cap.  xliii: 

For  as  the  mynde  was  somtyme  stablyd  in  god  /  ryght  so  now  it  hath 
forgoten  hym  /  and  sekith  his  rest  in  creatures:  now  from  one  to  an  nother  / 
and  never  may  fynde  ful  reste  /    For  he  hath  loste  hjnn  in  whom  is  ful  reste. 


Wisdom,  11.  415-6: 

Yet  ]>e  lest  hade  blys  for  euer-more: 

Ys  not  J>is  a-now? 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xviii: 

[Some]  thynke  it  ynough  to  hem  to  kepe  hemselfe  out  of  dedely  synne. 
&  for  to  stonde  stylle  in  that  plyght  as  they  are  in  /  For  they  saye  that 
it  is  ynough  to  hem  for  to  be  saaf  and  have  the  leest  degre  in  heven  /  They 
wol  coveyte  no  more. 


Wisdom,  11.  431-9: 

LucYFER.    ContemplatyfP  lyff  for  to  sewe, 

Yt  ys  grett  drede;    &  se  cause  why: 
They  must  fast,  wake,  &  prey,  euer  new, 
Wse  harde  lywynge  &  goynge,  with  dyscyplyne  dew, 
Kepe  sylence,  wepe,  &  surphettis  eschewe ; 

Ande  yff  ]>ey  fayll  of  thys,  J»ey  offende  Gode  hyghly. 

Wan  J^ey  haue  wastyde  by  feyntnes. 

Than  febyll  J)er  viyttis,  &  fallyn  to  fondnes, 

Sum  in-to  dyspeyer,  &  sum  in-to  madnes. 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  xxii: 

[Various  enemies  will  assail  the  soul;  sometimes  they  will  say]:  If  thou 
holde  forth  thy  desyre  to  Jhesu  so  fully  travelyng  as  thou  begynnest.  thou 
shalt  falle  in  to  sykenes  or  in  to  fantasyes  or  in  to  frenesyes  as  thou  seest 
that  som  don  /  Or  thou  shalt  fal  in  to  povertee  &  bodely  myscheyf.'* 

**  Warnings  against  the  evils  of  excessive  penance  are  common.     A  discussion  of  the 
subject,  including  more  details  about  Hilton's  view,  is  given  on  pp.  54-5. 


Sources  25 

Wisdom,  stage  direction  after  1.  906:  Anima  has  been  "defouled"  by  the 
sins  of  the  Mights,  and  appears  on  the  stage  "in  J^e  most  horrj'bull  wyse, 
fowlere  Jjan  a  fende."  Also,  according  to  the  stage  direction  after  1.  916, 
she  is  dressed  in  a  "horrybyll  mantyll." 

Scala  Perf.,  Pt.  I,  cap.  lii: 

[Look  within  yourself,  and]  thou  shalt  fynde  a  derke  ymage  &  a  paynful 
of  thyn  owne  soule.  whiche  hath  nother  lyght  of  knowyng  ne  felyng  of  love 
ne  lykyng.  This  jTnage  yf  thou  be  holde  wittely  is  al  umbylapped  with  blacke 
stinkyng  clothes  of  syn  /  as  pride,  envye.  ire.  Accidye  covetise  Glotenye  and 
lecherye. 

This  conception  of  the  soul  as  a  foul  image  of  sin,  Hilton  carries 
through  a  number  of  chapters.  The  reading  of  this  long  account 
may  well  have  suggested  to  the  writer  of  Wisdom  the  idea  of  repre- 
senting the  sinful  soul  on  the  stage  "in  ]>e  most  horrybull  wyse," 
dressed  in  a  "horrybyll  mantyll." 


Wisdom,  11.  961-73: 

Wysdom.    Then  [xall]  ^e  soule  mynde  take,  961 

Ande  wndyrstondynge,  of  hys  synnys  all-wey, 
Beynge  in  wyll,  yt  [to]   forsake; 

Yit  thes  do  not  only  synnys  a-wey, 
But  very  contrycyon,  who  }?at  haue  may, 

pat  ys  purger  &  denser  of  synne; 
A  tere  of  J>e  ey,  with  sorow  veray, 

J>at  rubbyt  &  waschyt  pe  soule  with-In.  968 

All  J>e  penance  l^at  may  be  wrought, 

Ne  all  pe  preyer  }>at  seyde  be  kan, 
With-owt  sorowe  of  hert,  relesyt  nought; 

That  in  especyall  reformyth  man, 

Ande  makyt  hym  as  clene  as  when  he  be-gane.  973 

Wisdom,   11.   985-96: 

[Wysdom.]     For,  Gode  ye  haue  offendyde  hyghly,  985 

Ande  yowur  modyr,  holy  chyrche  so  mylde; 
J)er-for,  Gode  ye  must  aske  mercy. 
By  holy  chyrch  to  be  reconsylyde, 
Trustynge  verely  ye  xall  neuer  be  rcvylyde. 

YflF  ye  haue  yowur  charter  of  pardon  by  confessyon. 
Now  haue  ye  for-yeffnes  fat  were  fylyde, 

To  prey  yowur  modyr  chyrche  of  her  proteccion.  992 

Anima.    O  Fadyr  of  mercy  ande  of  comfort, 
With  wei)ynge  ey,  &  hert  contryte, 


26  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

To  owur  modjT,  holy  chyrche,  I  wj'll  resort, 

My  lyif  pleyn  schewenge  to  here  syght.  996 

Scala  Per/.,  Pt.  II,  cap.  vii: 

He  [God]  abydeth  not  grete  penaunce  doynge  ne  paynful  flesshly  suflFeryng 
or  he  foryeve  it  [sin]  /  But  he  askyth  a  lothynge  of  synne  &  a  ful  forsakynge 
in  wyl  [cf.  Wisdom,  1.  963]  of  the  soule  for  the  love  of  hym  and  a  tournyng 
of  ye  hert  to  hjTn.  [When  this  is  done,  the  sin  is  forgiven  so  that  the  soul  is 
not  damned].  Neverthelesse  the  payne  dctted  for  the  synne  is  not  yet  fully 
foryeven  /  but  yf  contrycvon  &  love  be  the  more.  And  tlierfore  shal  he  go 
and  shewe  hjin  &  shrive  hym  to  his  ghostly  fader,  and  receyve  penaunce 
enioyned  for  his  trespaas  &  gladly  fulfyl  it.  so  that  bothe  the  synne  &  ye 
payne  maye  be  done  awaye  or  he  passe  hens  /  And  that  is  the  skylful  ordy- 
naunce  of  holy  chyrche  for  grete  profyte  of  mannes  soule  that  thoughe  the 
synne  be  foryeven  thorough  the  vertue  of  contrycyon  /  neverthelesse  in  ful- 
fyllynge  of  mekenesse:  and  for  to  make  hole  satysfaccyon  he  shal  yf  he  may 
shewe  to  his  preste  plener  confessyon  [cf.  Wisdom,  1.  996]  for  that  is  his 
token  &  his  warraunt  of  foryevenesse  ayenste  al  his  enmyes.  *****  It  is 
not  ynough  to  hym  to  ful  sykernesse  for  to  have  foryevenes  of  god  oonly 
by  contrycyon  betwene  god  and  hym.  but  yf  he  have  a  charter  made  by  holy 
chyrche  yf  he  may  come  therto.  And  that  is  the  sacrament  of  penaunce  the 
whiche  is  his  charter  &  his  token  of  foryevenes  [cf.  Wisdom,  1.  990].^^ 

WALTER  HILTON'S  EPISTLE  ON  MIXED  LIFE 
The  following  passages  from  Wisdom  and  Hilton's  Epistle  on 
Mixed  Life  are  alike  in  ideas,  and  show  some  similarity  in  phrase- 
ology : 

Wisdom,  11.   401-29:  Epistle  on  Mixed  Life,  cap.  xxvii: 

[LtTCYFER.]      All      thynge     hat     dew       ^  And  I  halde  l^at  hit  is  good  to  Jje 

^  '  for  to  vse  pis  maner  in  what  deuocion 

tymes,  ],at  Jjou  be,  J^at  J)ou  hange  not  longe 

Prayer,  fastynge,  labour,  all  thes:  J^er-vpon,    ou^ur    forto    putte    fro    pe 

AVan  t^Tne  is  not  kept,  that  dede  ys       >*  "^ete  or  J?i  slepe  in  tyme.  or  forto 

'  ■  [dijsese     any     o]7ur    man     vnskllfuli. 

^  *  Omnia   tempus  habent:    Al  Jjing  haj? 

be  more  pleynerly  to  yowur  infor-       tyme.^* 

macion.  Epistle,  cap.  i: 

J)ou     schalt    not    vtturli     folwe    l^i 

desyre  for  to  leue  ocupacions  &  bisy- 

Here  ys  a  man  put  Ij-wvt  wor[l]dly,  "es  of  pe  world  wjuch  are  nedeful  to 

Hathe   wvfFe    chvlderne    &    serwantis       ''^^  ^^  riilyng  of  >i-self  &  of  al  ojjur 
name   wytte,   cnjiaerne,  &   serwantis      j^^^   ^^^   ^,^^^^   j,j   kgping,   &   jeue   pe 

"^^Yf  hol[i]  to  gostly  occupacion  in  preyers 

And   other  chargys  pat   I  not  specj^-       &  meditacions  as  hit  were  a  Monk  or 

f^g.             '  a  frere  or  eny  o}>ur  mon  J?at  w^re  not 

•V      X  1  '  iY?  bounde  to  l>e  world  be  children  &  ser- 

Ys  yt  leeffull  to  ]?is  man  uauns  as  J?ou  art:   for  hit  fallej?  not 

«»The   expression,    "charter   of   pardon,"    occurs    in    A    Confession    and   Prayer    that 
St.  Brandon  Made,  in  Ms.  Harl.     1706,  fol.  86b. 
"Richard  Bolle  of  Hampole,  I,  291. 


Sources 


27 


To  lewe  hys  labour  wsyde  truly, 
His  chargys  perysche,  ]?at  Gode  gaff 

.     ,  •^'  .  „  .      "^^^i^o"y  gi^e  up  the  contempia^ti^e 

Ande   yewe   hjTu   to   preyer   &   es   of      hfe]   for  pi  stat  askej?  for  to  do  bobe. 


to  ]>e;  jif  bou  do  so,  Jjou  kepest  not 
pe  ordre  of  charite.  *****  [On  the 
other  hand,  the  man  so  situated  should 


-  —   —  boj^e, 

in  diuerse  tymes." 

Epistle,  cap.  ii: 

[Beginning  of  the  chapter;  follows 
immediately  after  the  last  sentence 
given  above.]  pow  schalt  medle  pe 
werkes  of  actif  lyf  wip  gostly  werkes 
of  contemplatyf  lyf,  and  ^en  dost 
J?ou  wel.  For  J^ou  schalt  o  tyme  wij> 
Martha  be  bisy  ffor  to  ruile  &'goueme 
bin  houshold,  ]pi  children,  J^i  seruauns, 
bi  neijebors,  and  I?i  tenauntes;— jif 
}7ei  do  wel,  cumforte  hem  J^erin  & 
help  hem;  jif  J^ei  don  vuel,  tech  hem  to 
amende  hem,  &  chastise  hem.  ***** 
[One  sentence  omitted.]  A  noJ?ur 
tyme  ]7ou  schalt  mp  Marie  leue  J^e 
bisynes  of  be  world  &  sitte  doun  at  pe 
feet  of  vr  lord  be  mekenes  in  prevers 
&  holy  J^oujtes.^' 

Epistle,  cap.  v: 

Oure  lord  for  to  stere  sum  men  to 
vse  }>is  medled  lyf,  tok  vpon  him-self 
pe  persones  of  such  maner  of  men, 
bo>e  of  prelates  &  curates  of  holy 
chirche,  &  of  oj^ur  suche  as  are  dis- 
posed as  I  haue  seid,  and  jaf  to  hem 
ensaumple  be  his  owne  worchyng  J7at 
bei  schulde  vse  J^is  medled  lyf  as  he 
dude.  O  tyme  he  comuned  &  medled 
wib  men,  sche\vj^ng  to  hem  his  dedes 
[of]  merci;  ffor  he  taujt  pe  vnkonnyng 
be  his  preching,  he  visyted  l^e  seke 
&  heled  hem  of  heor  sores,  he  fedde 
pe  hungri,  &  cumforted  hem  J)at  were 
sori.  Anojjur  tyme  he  lafte  pe  conuer- 
sacion  of  al  worldly  men,  &  of  his 
disciples  also,  &  went  alone  in  to 
desert  vpon  J^e  hiilles,  &  contyn[u]ed 
al  be  nijt  in  preyers  as  J^e  gospel  sei]?. 
pis  medled  lyf  schewcd  vr  lord  in 
him-self  to  ensaumple  of  hem  }5at  han 
take  pe  staat  &  pe  charge  of  J^is  med- 
Ande  J)at  lyff  xulde  ye  here  sewe.  led  lyf.*^ 

The  lines  in  the  play  read  very  much  like  a  summary,  with 
elaborations,  of  the  passages  from  Hilton.  If  we  had  no  other 
evidence  that  the  author  of  the  play  was  acquainted  Avith  Hilton's 
writings,  it  would,  perhaps,  be  unwise  to  insist  upon  these  pas- 

•'  Op.  cit..  I,  267. 
»0p.  cit.,  I,  269. 


body? 

Wo-so  do  thus,  with  Gode  ys  not 
than. 

Mertha  plesyde  Gode  grettly  thore. 
Mynde.     Ye;    but    Mar[i]a    plesyde 

hym  moche  more. 
LucTPER.     Yet  pe  lest  hade  blys  for 

euer-more : 
Ys  not  I>is  a-now? 
Mynde.   Contemplatyff  lyif  ys  sett  be- 

for. 
LucYFER.     I   may   not  belewe   l>at   in 

my   lore, 
For  God  hym  selff,  wan  he  was  man 

borre, 
Wat  lyff  lede  he?  answer  ]7ou  now! 

Was  he  euer  in  contemplacion? 
Mykde.     I   suppos   not,   by  my   rela- 

cion; 
LucYFER.     And   all   hys   lyff   was   in- 

formacion 
And  example  to  man: 
SumtjTue   with   synners  he  hade  con- 

versacion ; 
SumtjTne   with   holy   also,   comunyca- 

cion ; 
Sumtyme   he   laboryde,   preyde;    sum- 

tyme  tribulacion; 
This   was    "vita    mixta,"    }jat    Gode 

here  began; 


28  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

sages  as  sources.  In  view  of  his  certain  and  liberal  use  of  Hilton's 
Scala  Perfectionis,  however,  and  in  view  of  the  popularity  of  this 
Epistle  on  Mixed  Life,  as  shown  by  the  number  of  manuscripts 
and  editions  in  which  it  is  found  (see  Horstman's  list  in  Richard 
RoUe  of  Ilampole,  I,  264  ff.),  we  may  fairly  include  the  Epistle 
among  the  sources. 

ST.  BERNARD'S   (?)  MEDITATIONES  DE  COONITIONE  HUMAN AE 

CONDITIONIS 

Another  source  of  Wisdom  is  a  tract  which  was  once  attributed 
to  St.  Bernard,  but  which  is  probably  not  his.  It  is  printed  among 
his  doubtful  works  in  Migne's  Patrologia  Latina,^^  where  the  title 
is  given  as,  Meditationes  Piissimae  de  Cognitione  Humanae  Con- 
ditionis.  The  work  is  also  sometimes  included  among  the  writings 
of  Hugo  of  St.  Victor.  Bonaventura,  in  his  Soliloquium,  quotes 
the  passage  which  I  shall  use  as  a  source,  and  closes  it  with  "Haec 
Bernardus."  According  to  the  introductory  note  in  the  Patrologia, 
almost  all  the  manuscripts  ascribe  the  tract  to  Bernard.  That  it 
was  believed  in  England  in  the  fifteenth  century  to  be  by  him,  is 
shown  by  the  title  given  to  an  English  translation  published  in 
1496  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde :  The  Medytacyens  of  Saynt  Bernarde. 

The  Meditations  were  evidently  popular  in  England  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  for  otherwise  Wynkyn  de  Worde  would  not  have 
considered  it  worth  while  to  publish  a  translation.  The  trans- 
lator, who  describes  himself  at  the  end  of  the  work  as  a  "devoute 
student  of  the  unyversyte  of  Cambrydge,"  also  testifies  to  their 
popularity  in  the  preface,  where  he  says:  "And  by  cause  I  wolde 
have  so  goode  &  so  prouffytable  a  thynge  comyn  to  many,  and  also 
by  cause  that  hastly  after  the  translacyon  herof  before  it  was  duely 
correcte  &  ordred,  it  was  by  devoute  persones  transumpte  &  copyed 
I  wote  not  hoM'  ofte  aeynste  [sic]  my  Avyll  /  Therfore  have  I 
*****  putte  it  more  dylygently  corrected  &  ordred  to  the  enpryn- 
ter. "  Wisdom  is  closer  in  phraseology  to  the  Latin  original  than 
to  the  translation. 

The  parallels  between  the  play  and  the  Meditations  are  found 
in  the  following  passages : 

'"Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.   184,  col.  485  fif. 


Sources 


29 


Wisdom,  11.  95-8: 

Wtsdom.     By  knowynge  of  yowur  sylflF,  je 
may  haue  felynge  95 

Wat  Gode  ys  in  yowur  sowle  sensyble; 
The  more  knowynge  of  yowur  selff  passyble, 

J?e  more  veryly  je  xall  God  knowe.  98 

Wisdom,  11.  177-90: 

[Wysdom.]      Thre    myghtis,    euery    cresten 
sowll  has,  177 

Wyche  bethe  applyede  to  J>e  trinyte. 
Mtnde.   All  thre,  her,  lo,  by-for  yowur  face ! 
Mynde. 

Wytl.    Wyll. 

WNDYRSTONDYisrGE.   Ande  Vnderstond- 
ynge,  we  thre.  180 

Wysdam.    3e  thre,  declare  t>an  thys, 

Yowur  syngnyfycacon  &  yowur  propyrte! 
Mende.     I  am  Mynde,  pat  in  pe  sowle  ys 
The  veray  fygure  of  pe  deyte. 
Wen  in  my  selflF  I  haue  mynde,  &  se 

The  benefyttis  of  Gode  &  hys  worthynes, 
How  holl   I   was  mayde,  how   fayer,   how 
fre. 
How  gloryus,  how  jentyll  to  hys  lyknes, 

188 
Thys  insyght  bryngj^t  to  my  mynde 

Wat  grates  I  ought  to  God  a-geyn.        190 
[Mind   continues   with   his   "syngnyfycacon" 
and   "propyrte;"  Will   gives  his;   and 
then  Understanding  speaks] : 

Wisdom,  II.  245-82: 

Wndyhstondynge.      The    iijde    parte    of    pe 

soule  ys  'wndyrstondynge ;'  245 

For    by    wndyrstondyng    I    be-holde    wat 

Gode  ys 

In    hym     selff,    be-gynnyng    with-owt    be- 

gynnyng, 

Ande  ende  with-owt  ende,  )>at  xall  neuer 

mys. 
In-comprehensyble  in  hym-selff  he  ys; 
Hys  werkys  in  me  I  kan  not  compre- 
hende ; 
How  xulde  I  holly  hym  l^an,  >at  wrought 
all  Jjis? 
Thus,  by  knowynge  of  me,  to  knowynge 
of  Gode  I  assende.  252 

I  know  in  angelys  he  ys  desyderable. 

For,  hym  to  be'  holde,  )?ei  dysyer  souerenly ; 
In  hys  seyntis  most  dylectable. 
For  in  hym  Jjei  joy  assyduly; 
In  creaturys,  hys  werkys  ben  most  won- 
dyrly. 
For  all  ys  made  by  hys  myght. 
By  wysdom  gouernyde  most  souerenly, 
And  hys  benygnyte  inspyryt  all  soullys 
with  lyght.  260 


Meditations,  cap.  i: 

Per  cognitionem  mei  valeam 
pervenire  ad  cogitationem  Dei. 
Quanto  namque  in  cognitione 
mei  proficio,  tanto  ad  cogni- 
tionem Dei  accedo.  Secundum 
interiorem  hominem  tria  in 
mente  mea  invenio,  per  quae 
Deum  recolo,  conspicio,  et  con- 
cupisco.  Sunt  autem  haec  tria, 
memoria,  intelligentia,  volimtas 
sive  amor.  Per  memoriam  re- 
miniscor;  per  intelligentiam  in- 
tueor;  per  voluntatem  amplec- 
tor.  Cum  Dei  reminiscor,  in 
memoria  mea  eum  invenio,  et  in 
ea  de  eo  et  in  eo  delector,  secun- 
dum quod  ipse  mihi  donare 
dignatur.  Intelligentia  intueor 
quid  sit  Deus  in  se  ipso;  quid 
in  Angelis,  quid  in  Sanctis, 
quid  in  creaturis,  quid  in  hom- 
inibus.  In  se  ipso  est  incom- 
prehensibilis,  quia  principium  et 
finis:  principium  sine  princi- 
pio,  finis  sine  fine.  Ex  me  in- 
telligo  quam  incomprehensibi- 
lis  sit  Deus;  quoniam  me  ipsum 
intelligere  non  possum,  quem 
ipse  fecit.  In  Angelis  est  de- 
siderabilis,  quia  in  eum  desi- 
derant  prospicere :  in  Sanctis  est 
delectabilis,  quia  in  eo  assidue 
felices  laetantur:  in  creaturis 
est  admirabilis,  quia  omnia  po- 
tenter  creat,  sapienter  guber- 
nat,  benigne  dispensat:  in  ho- 
minibus  est  amabilis,  quia  eor- 
um  Deus  est,  et  ipsi  sunt  popu- 
lus  ejus.  Ipse  in  eis  habitat 
tanquam  in  templo  suo,  et  ipsi 
sunt  templum  ejus:  non  de- 
dignatur  singulos,  neque  uni- 
versos.  Quisquis  ejus  meminit, 
eumque  intelligit  ac  diligit,  cum 
illo  est. 


30 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


Of  all  creaturis  he  ys  lowyde  souereyn, 

For  he  ys  Gode  of  yche  creature, 
And  Jjey  be  his  peple  l^at  cuer  xall  reynge, 
In  worn  he  dwellyt  as  hys  tempull  sure. 
Wan   I,   thys  knowynge,   make   reporture, 

Ande  se  pe  loue  he  hathe  for  me  wrought, 
yt  bryngyt  me  to  loue  pat  prynce  most 
pure. 
For,  for  loue,  >at  Lorde  made  a  man  of 
nought.  268 

Thys  ys  pat  loue  wyche  ys  clepyde  'charyte,' 

For  Gode  ys  charyte,  as  awtors  tellys; 
Ande  woo  ys  in  charyte,  in  Gode  dwellyt  he, 
Ande     Gode,     J'at    ys     charyte,     in    hym 

dwellys ; 
Thus,  wndyrstondynge  of  Gode  compellys 
To  cum  to  charyte:  than  have  hys  lyknes, 
lo! 
Blyssyde  ys  ]5at  sowll  J?at  ]?is  speche  spel- 
lys, 
'Et  qui  creauit  me,  requieuit  in  taber- 
naculo  meo.'  276 

Wysdom.   lo !  thes  iij  myghtis  in  on  soule  be : 

Mynde,  wyll,  &  wndyrstondynge. 
By   'mynde,'   of  Gode  pe  Fadyr,  knowynge 
haue  ye; 
By  'wndyrstondynge,'  of  Gode  pe  Sone  ye 

haue  knowynge; 
By  'wyll,'  wyche  turnyt  in-to  loue  bren- 
nynge, 
Gode    pe    Holv    Gost,    ]?at    clepyde    ys 
'lowe.'  ■  '       282 


Diligere  eum  debemus,  quo- 
niam  ipse  prior  dilexit  nos,  et 
ad  imaginem  et  similitudinem 
suam  nos  fecit.  *****  [Twenty- 
seven  lines  omitted.]  Beata  ani- 
ma,  apud  quam  Deus  requiem 
invenit,  et  in  cujus  taberna- 
culo  requiescit.  Beata  quae 
dicere  potest:  Et  qui  creavit 
me,  requievit  in  tabernaculo 
meo.  *****  [About  thirty 
lines  omitted.]  Mens  imago  Dei 
est,  in  qua  sunt  haec  tria:  id  est 
memoria,  intelligentia  et  volun- 
tas. *****  [Six  lines  omitted.] 
Per  memoriam  Patri  similes 
suraus,  per  intelligentiam  Filio, 
per  voluntatem  Spiritui  sancto. 
Nihil  in  nobis  tarn  simile  Spir- 
itui sancto  est,  quam  volimtas 
vel  amor  sive  dilectio,  quae  ex- 
cellentior  voluntas  est.  Dilec- 
tio namque  donimi  Dei  est,  ita 
quod  nullum  hoc  dono  Dei  est 
excellentius.  Dilectio  namque 
quae  ex  Deo  est,  et  Deus  est, 
proprie  Spiritus  sanctus  dici- 
tur." 


Lines  95-8  in  Wisdom  are  a  translation  of  the  opening  sentences 
in  the  quotation  from  the  Meditations.  The  Mights  of  the  soul — 
Mind,  Will,  and  Understanding — enumerated  in  1.  180,  are  the  same 
as  those  in  the  Meditations — Memoria,  Voluntas,  and  Intelligentia. 
Some  writers  in  enumerating  this  trio  of  Mights,  substitute  Reason 
(Ratio)  for  Understanding  (see  p.  43).  Lines  185-90  are  appar- 
ently suggested  by  the  sentence  beginning,  "Cum  Dei  reminiscor," 
etc.  Tlie  description  of  Understanding,  11.  245-64,  275-6,  is  a  direct 
translation  of  the  description  of  Intelligentia.  Lines  265-74  are 
not  similar  in  phraseology  to  the  corresponding  part  of  the  Medi- 
tations; but  the  latter  suggests  the  two  main  ideas  in  these  lines, 
viz.,  that  God's  love  for  us  leads  us  to  love  him;  and  that  the  man 
who  has  charity  or  love  dwells  with  God,  and  God  dwells  with  him. 
These  two  suggestions  are  given  by  the  statements :  ' '  Diligere  eum 


'Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  184,  col.  485  fif. 


Sources  31 

debemns,  quoniam  ipse  prior  dilexit  nos;"  and  "Quisquis  ejus 
meminit,  eumque  intelligit  ac  diligit,  cum  illo  est.''  For  the  fuller 
development  of  the  latter  idea,  our  author  made  a  paraphrase  of  a 
part  of  /  JoJm  IV,  16 :  "Et  nos  cognovimus,  et  credidimus  eharitati 
quam  habet  Deus  in  nobis.  Deus  charitas  est;  et  qui  manet  in 
charitate,  in  Deo  manet,  et  Deus  in  eo."  Lines  277-82  again  enu- 
merate the  Mights  and  bring  them  into  relationship  with  the  three 
Persons  of  the  Trinity ;  the  Latin  does  the  same.  The  Meditations, 
then,  are  another  source  of  Wisdom. 

AN  UNIDENTIFIED  WORK  BY  ST.  BERNARD  (?) 
The  source  of  11.  1106-10  of  Wisdom  is  a  passage  ascribed  by 
Bonaventura,  John  Fisher,*^  and  The  Boke  of  the  Craft  of  Dying  *2 
to  St.  Bernard.  As  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  passage  in 
Migne's  edition  of  St.  Bernard's  works,  I  shall  quote  from  Bon- 
aventura's  Soliloqiiium.  This  same  Soliloquium  is  also  the  source 
of  11.  309-23  (seep.  33). 

Wisdom,  11.   1106-10    [the  writer   is  Soliloquium: 

describing    Christ's    suffering    on    the  Revertere  adhuc,  O  Anima,  Christus 

cross] :  in  Cruce  te  expectans,  habet  caput  in- 

My  handys  sprede  a-brode  to  halse  clinatum,    ad    te    peccatricem    &    im- 

pe  swyre;  mundam  deosculandam,  habet  brachia 

My  fete  naylyde,  to  a-byde  with  J>ee,  extensa,     ad     amplexandam :     manus 

■    swet  herte;  apertas   ad   remittendum:   corpus   ex- 

My   hert   clowyn    for   pi   loue   most  tensum,    ad    se    totum    impcndendum: 

(jgrg.  pedes  afBxos,  ad  tecum  commanendum: 

Myn  hede  bowhede  down  to  kys  pee  latus   apertum,   ad   te   in   illud   intro- 

here;  mittendum.    Esto  ergo,  O  Anima,  iam 

My  body  full  of  holys,  as  a  dove-  columba     nidificans     in     foraniinibus 

hows.  petrae.  ******  Haec  Bernardus." 

The  reference  to  the  dove  nesting  in  the  holes  in  the  rock  seems 
to  have  suggested,  somehow,  to  the  writer  of  Wisdom  the  compari- 
son of  Christ's  body  and  its  wounds  to  a  dove-house  full  of  holes, 
a  comparison  which  is  not  original  with  him,  for  it  had  already 
been  made  by  Richard  RoUe  in  his  Meditations  on  the  Passion: 

*^John  Fisher's  English  Works,  ed.  J.  E.  B.  Mayor,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  XXVII, 
411. 

"  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  410. 

*'Sancti  Bonaventurae  Eximii  Ecclesiae  Doctoris  Soliloquium  de  Quatuor  Mentalibut 
Exercitiis,  quod  dicitur  Imago  Vitae   (Antverpiae.     M.  DO.  XVI),  p.  83. 


32  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  "Wisdom 

"jit,  swete  Ihesu,  pi  body  is  lijk  a  duflious:  /  for  as  a  dufhous  is 
f ul  of  dowue  holis,  so  is  J?i  bodi  f ul  of  woundis. ' '  ** 

In  Richard  Rolle's  (?)  Latin  tract  on  the  Novem  Virtutes 
(Ms.  Caius  Coll.  140,  fol.  133  ff.)  under  the  second  "virtus,"  an 
account  similar  to  the  one  given  above  from  Bernard  is  assigned 
to  Augustine:  "Augustinus  in  libro  de  virginitate  sic  ait  de 
passione.  Inspice  vulnera  pendentis  sanguinem  morientis  precium 
redimentis  cicatrices  resurgentis.  Capud  habet  inclinatum  ad 
osculandum  cor  apertum  ad  diligendum  brachia  extensa  ad 
amplesandum  totum  corpus  expositum  ad  redimendum."  I  have 
not  been  able  to  find  the' passage  in  Augustine's  works;  it  is  not  in 
the  Liber  de  Sancta  Virginitate  (Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  tom.  40,  col.  395 
ff.).  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  "cor  apertum  ad  diligendum"  of 
this  passage  is  much  more  like  1.  1108  in  the  play  than  is  Bernard's 
"latus  apertum,  ad  te  in  illud  intromittendum. "  On  the  other 
hand,  Augustine's  account  (if  it  is  his)  omits  "pedes  affixos"  and 
the  references  to  the  dove  and  to  the  hands,  having  only  "brachia 
extensa,"  instead  of  the  double  item,  "brachia  extensa"  and 
"manus  apertas,"  in  Bernard's  version  (cf.  Wisdom,  1.  1106). 
I  have  therefore  taken  the  passage  from  Bernard  as  the  source  of 
the  lines  in  the  play.*° 

TRACT ATUS  DE  INTERIORI  DOMO 
The  description  of  Will  in  11.  213-8  of  Wisdo^n  is  taken  from 
the  Tractatus  de  Interiori  Domo,  seu  de  Conscientia  JEdificanda, 
which,  like  the  Meditations,  has  been  ascribed  to  both  St.  Bernard 
and  Hugo  of  St.  Victor.  It  is  printed  among  Bernard's  works  in 
Migne 's  Patrologia;  but  the  introductory  note  in  that  work  says 
that  it  is  not  by  him.*® 

Wisdom,  11,    213-18:  De  Interiori  Domo,  cap.  ii: 

Nam   inter   omnia   Dei   dona,    quae 

Wyil.    And  I  of  J^e  soull  am  \>e  wyll;       ad  salutem  hominis  spectare  videntur, 

primiim    et    principale    bonum,    bona 
voluntas   esse   cognoscitur,   per   quam 

**  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  96 ;  for  other  comparisons  of  Christ's  body  to  a 
dove-house,  see  Ayenbite  of  Inwyt,  142 ;  and  the  English  Orologium  Sapientiae^  in 
Anglia,  X,  344. 

*^  English  translations  of  all  or  part  of  the  Latin  description  of  Christ  hanging 
on  the  cross  are  found  in  Ms.  Harl.  1706,  fol.  88  b;  Minor  Poems  of  the  Vernon  Ms., 
ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  CXVII,  Vol.  II,  p.  472;  Altenglische  Dichtungen  des 
Ms.  Harl.  2253,  ed.  K.  Boddeker,  p.  200;  and  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  410. 

« Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  tom.  184,  col.  507. 


Sources 


33 


Off  J^e  godhede,  lyknes  &  fygure. 
Wyt  goode  wyll,  no  man  may  spyll, 
Nor   with-owt    goode   wyll,   of  blys 

be  sure. 
Wat   soiile   wyll   gret   mede   recure. 
He    must     grett    wyll    haue,     in 
thought  or  dede. 


imago  similitudinis  Dei  in  nobis  repa- 
ratur.  *  *  *  *  [Two  short  sentences 
omitted.]  Quidquid  homo  facit, 
bonum  esse  non  potest,  nisi  ex  bona 
voluntate  procedat.  Sine  bona  volim- 
tate  omnino  salvari  quispiam  non 
potest:  cum  bona  voluntate  nemo  per- 
ire  potest.  *  *  *  *  [Four  short  sen- 
tences omitted.]  Quantum  crescit 
voluntas  tua  bona,  tantum  crescit 
meritum  tuum.  Fac  igitur  magnam 
bonam  voluntatem  tuam,  si  vis  ha- 
bere magnum  meritum." 

BONA  VENTURA'S  SOLILOQUIUM 

The  enumeration  of  the  benefits  which  God  has  given  to  man  is 
a  favorite  topic  with  ecclesiastical  writers.  The  lines  in  Wisdom 
are  a  translation  of  a  passage  in  Bonaventura 's  Soliloquium  de 
Quatuor  Mentalihus  Exercitiis. 


Wisdom,  11.  309-23: 

Anima.   Soueren  Lorde,  I  am  bownde  to  the ! 

Wan   I   was   nought,   J)ou   made   me   thus 

glorius; 

Wan     I     perysschede     thorow     synne,    J)ou 

sauyde  me; 

Wen  I  was  in  grett  perell,  I^ou  kept  me, 

Christus ; 
When  I  erryde,  t>ou  reducyde  me,  Jhesus; 
Wen  I  was  ignorant,  ]7ou  tawt  me  truthe ; 
Wen  I  synnyde,  l^ou  corecte  me  thus; 
Wen    I   was   hewy,   J)ou   comfortede   by 
ruthe ; 

Wen  I  stonde  in  grace,  J>ou  holdyste  me  }Jat 
tyde; 
Wen  I  fall,  }?ou  reysyst  me  myghtyly; 
Wen  I  go  wyll,  J?ou  art  my  gyde; 

Wen    I    cum,    ]?ou    reseywyste    me    most 

louynly; 
Thou  hast  a-noyntyde  me  with  J^e  oyll  of 
mercy ; 
Thy  benefyttis,  Lorde,  be  in-numerable; 


Soliloquium: 

[Anima  is  speaking] :  Eia  mi 
Domine  Deus  mens,  si  haec  ita 
se  habent,  quantum  ego  infelix 
&  misera  diligere  deberem  De- 
um  meum,  qui  me  creavit  cum 
non  eram,  redemit  cum  perie- 
ram,  &  de  multis  periculis  li- 
beravit  me,  quando  errabam 
reduxit  me,  quando  ignorabam 
docuit  me,  quando  peccabam 
corripuit  me,  quando  contris- 
tabar  consolatus  est  me,  quan- 
do steti  tenuit  me,  quando  ceci- 
di  erexit  me,  quando  iui  duxit 
me,  quando  veni  suscepit  me. 
Haec  &  multi  alia  fecit  mihi 
Deus,  de  quibus  dulce  mihi  erit 
semper  loqui,  semper  cogitare, 
semper  gratias  agere,  utinam 
pro  omnibus  beneficijs  suis  pos- 
sem  eimi   laudare   &   amare.** 


Werfor,  lawde  endeles  to  Jjee  I  crye. 

The  "Epistle  to  the  Reader"  attached  to  the  1616  edition  of 

the  Soliloquium  states  that  parts  of  the  work  were  taken  from 

"  Op.  cit.,  col.  511. 

**  Sancti  Bonaventurae  Eximii  Ecclesiae  Doctoris  Soliloquium  de  Quatuor  Mentalibus 
Exercitiii,  quod  dicitur  Imago  Vitae   (Antverpiae.     M.  DO.  XVI),  p.  88. 


34  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor's  De  Arrha  Animae.  The  passage  quoted  above 
is  one  of  these.  Hugo's  version  is  as  follows:  "Et  saepe  cum  mihi 
consumptus  videbar,  subito  liberasti  me ;  quando  errabam,  reduxisti 
me ;  quando  ignorabam,  docuisti  me ;  quando  peccabam,  corripuisti 
me ;  quando  tristabar,  consolatus  es  me ;  quando  desperabam,  con- 
fortasti  me;  quando  cecidi,  erexisti  me;  quando  steti,  tenuisti  me; 
quando  ivi,  duxisti  me;  quando  veni,  suscepisti  me."*® 

Bonaventura  apparently  took  the  passage  from  Hugo  and 
made  some  slight  changes  in  it.  That  the  author  of  Wisdom  used 
Bonaventura 's  version  is  shown  by  the  exact  correspondence  in 
contents  and  arrangement  between  it  and  the  play;  whereas  in 
the  passage  from  Hugo  there  is  an  additional  item,  "quando  des- 
perabam, confortasti  me,"  which  is  in  neither  Bonaventura 's  ver- 
sion nor  the  play,  and  the  order  of  "quando  steti"  and  "quando 
cecidi"  is  reversed.  Also  "qui  me  creavit  cum  non  eram"  (cf. 
Wisdom,  1.  310),  is  in  Bonaventura 's  text  but  not  in  Hugo's. 

RICHARD  ROLLE'S  (?)  NOVEM  VIRTUTES 

The  account  of  the  "Nine  Points  Pleasing  to  God"  in  11.  1001-68 
of  Wisdom  is  a  translation  from  the  Latin  Novem  Virtutes,  which 
is  ascribed  to  Richard  Rolle  but  may  not  be  his,  and  which  is 
extant  in  Ms.  Caius  Coll.  140,  fol.  133  ff.  (Horstman  incorrectly 
gives  132).^°  English  prose  translations  of  this  Latin  text  are 
printed  in  Reliquiae  Antiquae,^^  from  Ms.  Lansd.  762;  and  by 
Horstman,  from  Mss,  Rawl.  C  285,  Harl.  1704,  and  Vernon,  re- 
spectively.^^ Horstman  also  prints  a  verse  translation  from  Ms. 
Harl.  2409  (also  extant  in  Mss.  Cambr.  Ff  I.  14  and  Ji  IV.  g).^^ 
An  incomplete  version,  omitting  the  first  five  points  and  part  of 
the  sixth,  is  among  the  poems  of  John  Audelay.^*     All  of  these 

^  SolUoquium  de  Arrha  Animae,  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  176,  col.  968.  Other 
works  in  which  these  ideas  occur,  with  more  or  less  detail,  are  the  following:  Tractatus 
de  Interiori  Domo,  in  Migne,  op.  cit.,  torn.  184,  col.  511;  English  version  of  the  Mirror 
of  St.  Edmund,  in  Richard  Rolle  of  Eam.pole,  I,  221;  Informacio  Alredi  Abbatis  Mon- 
asterij  de  Rieualle  ad  Sororem  Suam,  in  Eng.  Stud.,  VII,  337;  Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye, 
ed.  J.  H.  Blunt,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  XIX,  186;  De  Imitatione  Christi,  ed.  J.  K. 
Ingram,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXIII,  78. 

"  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  455. 

^^  Reliquiae  Antiquae,  ed.  T.  Wright  and  J.  O.  Halliwell,  I,  245-6. 

^^  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  110  ff. 

•^  Op.  cit.,  II,  455. 

**  Poema  of  John  Audelay,  in  Percy  Society  Publications,  XIV,  51  ff. 


Sources 


35 


agree  in  the  main  points,  but  differ  somewhat  in  details.  None 
exactly  corresponds  to  the  passage  in  Wisdom;  the  Latin  version 
is  most  like  it. 


Wisdom,  11,  1001-68: 

Wtsdom.    thus  seth  Gode,  Mankynde  tvll: 

1001 

The[s]  ix  poyntys  pies  hym,  all  other  be- 
fore. 
'Gyff  a  peny  in  thy  lyve,  with  goode  wyll 
To  pe  pore,  &  pat  pleysythe  Gode  more 
J)an  mowyntenys  in-to  golde   transposyde 
were  ; 
Ande  aftir  thy  dethe,  for  the  dysposyde.' 
Ande  all  ]>e  goodys  )?ou  hast  in  store 

Xulde   not   profyght   so   moche   wan   J>i 
body  ys  closyde.  1008 

The  secunde  poynt,  Gode  sethe  thus: 

'Wepe  one  tere  for  my  loue  hertyly, 
Or  for  J>e  passyon  of  me,  Jhesus 
Ande  J^at  plesyt  me  more  specyally 
Than   yff   Jjou   wepte,    for   pi    frendys   or 
goodys  worldly. 
As  moche  watur  as  pe  se  conteynys.' 
lo!  contrycion  ys  a  soueren  remedy, 
That    dystroythe    synnys,    J^at    relessyt 
peynys.  1016 

The   iijde,   Gode   sethe,   'sufFyr   pacyen[t]ly, 
for  my  loue, 
Off  Jji  neybure  a  worde  of  repreve; 
Ande  ]7at,  to  mercy  mor  dothe  me  move 
than  [yf]  })ou  dyscyplynyde  Jji  body  with 

peynys  grewe, 
With  as  many  roddys  as  myght  grow  or 
l?rywe 
In  pe  space  of  [a]  days  Jornye!' 
Lo,  who  suffyryth  most  for  Gode,  ys  most 
lewe. 
Slandyr  repreve  only  Aduersyte.       1024 

The  iiijte,  Gode  sethe,  'wake  on  awyr  for  pe 
loue  of  me; 
And  I>at  to  me  ys  more  plesaunce 

than  yff  Ijou  sent  xii  kyng}'s  free 
to  my  sepulkyr  with  grett  puysschaunce, 
For  my  dethe  to  take  vengeaunce.' 


Novem  Virtutes: 

Hie  continentur  nouem  vir- 
tutes quas  dominus  noster  ihesus 
christus  cuidam  sancto  viro 
volenti  deo  seruire  necnon  de- 
uote  facere  que  placent  ore  suo 
reuelauit  sibi  dicens  primo.  Da 
pauperibus  meis  vnum  denar- 
ium  in  vita  tua  quia  raihi  hoc 
phis  placet  quam  si  dedisses 
post  vitam  tuam  montes  aure- 
os    in   monetam    compositos.*** 

Secunda  virtus.  Emitte  vnam 
lacrimam  pro  peccatis  tuis  et 
pro  amore  meo  siue  passione 
mea  et  hoc  plus  placet  mihi 
quam  si  plorares  tantam  aquam 
quanta  continetur  in  mari  pro 
rebus  mundanis.  *****  Casio- 
dorus  ***  ait  Fletus  est  cibus 
animarum  coroboracio  sensuum 
absolucio  peccatorum  refeccio 
mencium  lauacrum  culparum. 
***** 

Tercia  virtus.  Sustine  dul- 
citer  et  pacienter  vnum  verbum 
durum  et  probosum  de  proxi- 
mo tuo  et  magis  mihi  placet 
quam  si  disciplinares  corpus 
tuum  cum  tot  virgis  quot  pos- 
sunt  crescere  super  vnam  ar- 
borem  vel  dictam  terre.***** 

Quartus  gradus.  Uigila  vna 
hora  pro  me  et  cicius  placebit 
mihi  quam  si  mitteres  vltra 
mare  duodecim  milites  sepul- 
crum  meum  vindicaturos.  [Then 
follow  a  number  of  quotations 


36 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  "Wisdom 


lo,  wakynge  ys  a  holy  thynge! 
\>eT  yt  }'S  hade  with  goode  vsance, 
Many  gracys  of  yt  doth  sprynge.      1032 

The  vte,  Gode  sethe,  'haue  pyte  &  compass- 
yon 
Off  pi  neybur  wyche  ys  seke  &  nedy; 
And  ))at  to  me  ys  more  dylectacion 
than  [yff]  I'D!!  fastyde  xlty  yer  by  &  by, 
thre  days  in  pe  weke,  as  streji;ly 

As  Jjou  cowdys  in  watur  &  brede.' 
lo,  pyte,  Gode  plesyth  grettly, 

Ande  vt  ys  a  vertii  soueren,  as  clerkys 
rede.'  1040 

The  vite,  Gode  seth  in  )7is  wyse: 

'Refreyn  thy  speche,  for  my  reuerens; 
Lett  not  thy  tonge  thy  evj'n  crysten  dyspyse ; 
Ande  pan  plesyst  more  myn  excellens 
Than  yff  }?ou  laberyde  with  grett  dylygens 

Wp-on  thy  nakyde  feet  &  bare, 
Tyll  pe  blode  folwude  for  peyn  &  vyolens, 
Ande  af tyr  eche  stepe  yt  sene  were.'    1048 

The  vijte,  Cryst  seth  in  ]7is  maner: 

'thy  neybur,  to  ewyll  ne  sterre  not  thou; 

but  all  thynge  torne  into  wertu  chere; 

A[n]d  than  more  plesyst  [J?ou]  me  now 

then    yf    a    thowsende    tymys    po\i    renne 
thorow 

A  busche  of  thornys  ]7at  scharpe  were, 
Tyll  I)i  nakyde  body  were  all  rought, 
Ande  evyn  rent  to  pe  bonys  bare.'     1056 
The  viiite,  Gode  sethe  J>is  man  tyll: 

'Oftyn  prey,  &  aske  of  me; 
Ande  ]>at  plesythe  me  more  on-to  my  wyll 
Than  yf  my  modyr  &  all   sentys   preyde 
for  pee:  1060 

The  ixte,  Gode  sethe,  'lowe  me  souerenly; 

Ande  J?at  to  me  more  plesant  ys 
Than  yf  J?ou  went  wp  on  a  pyler  of  tre 
J)at  wer  sett  full  of  scharpe  prykkys. 
So  })at  Jjou  cut  })i  flesche  in-to  pe  smale 
partys.' 
lo,  Gode  ys  plesyde  more  with  J^e  dedys 
of  charyte 
Than  all  pe  peynys  man  may  suffer  I-wys: 
Remembyr    thes    poyntys,    man,   in    J)i 
felycite!  1068 


^  Ms.  Caius  Coll. 
to  God",  see  p.  74. 


140,   fol.   133   ff. 


from  the  Fathers,  recommend- 
ing discretion  in  fasting,  vigils, 
etc.    Cf.   Wisdom,  1.  1031.] 

Quinta  virtus.  Habeas  pie- 
tatem  et  compassionem  de  prox- 
imo tuo  inope  vel  infirmo  et 
hoc  enim  frequencius  mihi 
placet  quam  si  ieiunares  xl  an- 
nis  qualibet  ebdomada  per  tre- 
us  dies  in  pane  et  aqua.  [Quo- 
tations dealing  with  the  sub- 
ject of  pity  are  then  given.  Cf. 
Wisdom,  1.  1040.] 

Sexta  virtus.  Ne  dicas  ser- 
monem  tradiciosum  vel  frau- 
dulentum  de  proximo  tuo  set 
taceas  pro  amore  meo  et  am- 
plius  mihi  placet  quam  si  am- 
bulares  per  viam  nudis  plantis 
quod  cursus  sanguinis  sequere- 
tur  vestigia  pedum  tuorum.*** 

Septima  virtus.  Ne  instiges 
nee  excites  proximum  tuum  ad 
malum  set  omnia  conuertas  in 
meliora  et  hoc  mihi  plus  placet 
quam  si  semel  in  die  ascendens 
in  celum.***** 

Octava  virtus.  Frequenter 
desideres  et  interroges  me  et 
hoc  mihi  plus  placet  quam  si 
mater  mea  et  omnes  sancti 
orarent  pro  te.***** 

Nona  virtus.  Diligas  me  so- 
lum super  omnia  et  hoc  mihi 
plus  placet  quam  si  ascenderes 
vnam  columpnam  plenam  noua- 
culis  acutis  ita  quod  caro  tua 
scinderetur  in  particulas  irre- 
cuperabiliter  in  futurum.***** 
Item  greg.  in  pastoralibus  ait 
Nichil  est  preciosius  deo  vir- 
tute  dileccionis.  [Cf.  Wisdom^, 
11.   1066-7.]  ^5 

For  a  discussion  of  the  "Nine   Points  Pleasing 


Sources 


37 


After  each  "virtus"  in  the  Latin,  comments  appropriate  to  the 
subject  under  discussion  are  added  from  the  writings  of  the 
Fathers.  The  author  of  Wisdom  makes  use  of  these  comments  only 
in  the  instances  noted  in  the  parentheses  above. 

RICHARD   ROLLE'S  MEDITATIONS  ON   THE  PASSION 

A  passage  in  Richard  Rolle's  Meditations  on  the  Passion  is 
similar  to  the  following  lines  in  Wisdom: 


Wisdom,  11.   1097-1105: 
[Wysdom.]   Ande  ther  yowur 
V  wyttys  offendyde  has, 
Ande   to   mak   a-sythe   by 
Impotent, 
My  V  wyttys,  J^at  neuer  dyde 
trespas, 
Hatha  made  a-sythe  to  Jjc 

Father   suffycyent. 
With    my    syght    I    se    J>e 
people  vyolent; 
I  herde  hem  vengeaimce 
on-to  me  call; 
I     felte^^    pe    stenche    of 
caren  here  present; 
I     tastyde     J^e     drjTike 
mengylde  with  gall. 
By  towchynge,  I  felte  peyns 
smerte. 


Meditations  on  the  Passion: 

And  Jjat  place  was  so  wlatsom  wip  stinche  of 
diners  careines,  }Jat  it  Iodide  ony  man  to  neije 
nyj.  /  &  J?us  weren  alle  ]>i  fyue  wittis  ocupied 
wijj  peynes:  to  bote  J>e  trespace  of  oure  fyue 
wittis.  In  si3t  t>ou  were  blind f eld,  for  J)ou  sij 
lp\  modir  so  wo,  and  for  })ou  si3  hem  pi  foes 
J'at  weren  moost  holden  to  be  pi  frendis,  as  pe 
iewis.  In  J^i  smellinge,  wip  stink  of  careynes 
J7at  were  so  manye:  for  l^ou  were  doon  to  pe 
dee]?  in  J^e  foulist  place  of  lerusalem,  Jjere  alle 
J^e  careynes  of  pe  toun  weren  cast  out;  /  and 
J)at  smyl,  swete  Ihesu,  was  ful  greuous  in 
J)i  nose.  In  J>i  taast,  lord,  greuede  pee  pe  galle 
aftir  Jurist — for,  swete  Ihesu,  plente  of  peyne 
is  cause  of  Jurist  &  of  drienes — &  gal  is  bittir 
in  taast:  /  &  J>e  iewis  jeuen  J^ee  {Jerto  eisil,  to 
echin  Jji  bittir  taast.  In  heeringe,  swete  Ihesu, 
]7ou  were  greued  vrip  false  accusingis,  &  scornes, 
whanne  t)ei  seiden  "heil  king"  &  spitten  in  t>i 
face;  wip  heeringe  of  foul  cri,  whanne  J^ei  crie- 
den  to  hange  pee  swete  Ihesu  on  pe  rode,  /  and 
whanne  J>ei  crieden  "he  coude  o)?ere  men  saue: 
now  lete  him  saue  him-silf  if  he  can."  In 
felinge,  swete  Ihesu,  t>ou  were  peined  in  J)i 
bindinge  ^d  hariynge,  buffetinge,  blindfelling, 
scourginge,  crowninge,  in  beringe  of  pe  cros, 
in  drawinge  of  cordis  on  pe  cros,  in  nailinge  of 
J?i  feet  &  hondis  on  pe  cros." 


This  passage  is  not  similar  enough  to  Wisdom  in  phraseology 
to  warrant  our  calling  it  one  of  the  certain  sources  of  the  play. 
The  ideas,  however,  are  identical,  and  there  is  some  similarity  in 
expression.  It  is  evident  that  the  writer  of  the  play  had  in  mind 
this  passage  or  one  similar  to  it.  In  different  Mss.  of  the  Medita- 
tions, the  phraseology  of  this  account  of  Christ's  suffering  varies 
widely;  for  example,  compare  the  two  versions  printed  by  Horst- 
man.''^     The  author  of  Wisdom  may  have  followed  some  unknown 

"  This  Bhould  be  "smelte,"  of  course;  the  Ms.  does  not  indicate  the  "m." 
^Richard  RoUe  of  Hampole,  I,  100;  for  the  other  version  see  I,  87. 


a?'5.932 


38  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

variant  form  closely,  or  he  may  have  paraphrased,  or  summarized, 
a  form  no  nearer  to  his  than  is  the  one  given  above. 

A  similar  idea  is  expressed  in  a  passage  from  the  English 
Orologium  Sapicntiae:  "And  so  I  hangynge  on  pe  erosse  and  on 
alle  sydes  vmbyllappede  with  pe  moste  bitter  sorowes  of  dep,  mye 
clere  &  shiny nge  eyene  wer  alle  dasevvede  and  derkede,  myne  god- 
delye  eres  fillede  with  scornes  and  repreves,  mye  smelle  disesede 
with  fowle  stynke  of  ]?e  place,  mye  swettuste  mow]?e  with  drynke 
of  galle  made  bittere :  &  so  alle-torene,  betene  &  woundete  I  schede 
mye  blode."^^  This  account  is,  in  turn,  a  translation  from  Suso's 
Latin  Orologium.^^  The  passage  in  the  English  Orologium  is  not 
so  close  to  the  lines  in  the  play  as  is  Rolle's  account,  and  is  evi- 
dently not  the  direct  source.  It  may,  however,  have  suggested  the 
idea  to  the  author  of  Wisdom,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  borrowed  freely 
from  the  Orologium  in  the  first  part  of  the  play.  If  this  theory 
is  correct,  he  adopted  Rolle's  account  as  the  basis  of  his,  probably 
because  it  was  more  specific  and  more  detailed  than  the  one  in 
the  Orologium. 

^Anglia,  X,  339. 

**  The  Latin  Orologium  Sapientiae,  cap.  iii. 


PARALLEL  IDEAS 

Besides  the  direct  sources  which  have  been  examined,  a  number 
of  passages  may  be  cited  which  show  parallels  in  ideas,  but  not  in 
phraseology,  to  the  play.*^"  They  are  given,  not  as  sources,  but  to 
show  where  our  author's  affiliations  in  ideas  lay.  Along  with 
them,  a  few  of  the  more  important  points  which  have  already  been 
traced  to  their  sources  will  be  discussed  again  more  fully.  In  this 
investigation,  the  fourfold  division  which  was  pointed  out  in  the 
Analysis  of  the  Plot  will  be  followed. 

FIRST   DIVISION:     "INNOCENCE" 

Most  of  the  first  division  of  the  play — the  part  dealing  with 
the  soul  in  a  state  of  innocence — has  already  been  covered  in  the 
discussion  of  the  sources.  The  points  to  be  examined  further  are 
as  follows : 

Wisdom,  11.  1-16 :  in  these  lines  of  the  play,  the  author  identi- 
fies Wisdom  with  Christ,  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity.  This 
identification  had  been  made  as  early  as  the  time  of  Augustine  but 
not  so  definitely,  I  think,  as  the  following  statement  by  Thomas 
Aquinas  suggests:  "Secundum  Augustinum  Patri  attribuitur  po- 
tentia,  Filio  sapientia,  Spiritui  sancto  bonitas."  ^^  I  have  not  suc- 
ceeded in  finding  such  a  statement  in  Augustine 's  undoubted  works. 
In  the  Liber  Soliloquiorum  Animae  ad  Deum  (printed  in  the  ap- 
pendix to  Augustine's  works,  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lai.,  tom.  40,  col.  896) 
the  follo\\ang  occurs:  "Cognoscere  Patris  potentiam,  Filii  sapien- 
tiam,  Spiritus  sancti  clementiam,  ipsius  summae  Trinitatis  unara  et 
indivisam  essentiam,  est  videre  faciem  Dei  vivi."  This  Liher  Soli- 
loquiorum,  however,  seems  to  have  been  written  much  later  than 
Augustine's  time.  Furthermore,  such  a  definite  division  of  attri- 
butes among  the  Persons  of  the  Trinity  does  not  agree  with  Augus- 
tine's conservative  conclusion  in  De  Trinitate,  VI  and  VII.  There 
he  discusses  the  question  at  length,  and  concludes  that  although 
Wisdom  is  to  be  attributed  to  all  the  Persons,  yet  it  belongs  more 
especially  to  the  Son:  "Propterea  igitur  cum  pronuntiatur  in 
Scripturis,  aut  enarratur  aliquid  de  sapientia,  sive  dicente  ipsa, 

•"A  few  of  these  have  already  been  given  in  the  section  devoted  to  Hilton  (see  p.  23). 
"  Thomas  Aquinas,  Summa  Theologica,  Pt.  I,  Qu.  xxxix,  Art.  8. 


40  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

sive  cum  de  ilia  dieitur,  Filius  nobis  potissinmm  insinuatur. ' '  ®^ 
The  text  for  this  discussion  is  "Christum  Dei  virtutem  et  Dei  sa- 
pientiam"  (  7  Cor.  I,  24). 

Abelard  advocated  a  definite  division  of  attributes  among  the 
Persons  of  the  Trinity,  assigning  Power  to  the  Father,  Wisdom  to 
the  Son,  and  Goodness  to  the  Holy  Ghost.^^  This  view  was  attacked 
as  heretical  by  St.  Bernard,  who  probably  did  not  object  to  Augus- 
tine's more  cautious  statement.  Bernard  argues  thus:  "Dicit 
[Abelard]  proprie  et  specialiter  ad  Patrem  potentiam,  ad  Filium 
sapientiam  pertinere :  quod  quidem  falsum.  Nam  et  Pater  sapien- 
tia,  et  Filius  potentia  verissime  sunt,  sanissimeque  dicuntur:  et 
quod  est  commune  amborum,  non  erit  proprium  singulorum.***** 
Quid,  quaeso,  facturus  est  de  ilia  nobili  sua  partitione,  in  qua  ut 
Patri  potentiam,  sic  Filio  sapientiam,  sic  Spiritui  sancto  benignita- 
tem  proprie  ac  specialiter  assignavit  ?  Non  enim  una  et  eadem  res 
proprie  poterit  convenire  duobus,  hoc  est,  ut  cuique  propria  sit. 
Eligat  quod  vult :  aut  det  sapientiam  Filio,  et  tollat  earn  Patri ;  aut 
Patri  tribuat,  et  auferat  Filio;  et  rursum  benignitatem  aut  Spir- 
itui sancto  sine  Patre,  aut  Patri  sine  Spiritu  sancto  assignet :  aut 
eerte  desinat  nomina  communia  propria  facere."®* 

In  spite  of  Bernard's  opposition,  however,  this  division  of  at- 
tributes, made  more  or  less  definitely,  became  a  conventional  idea  in 
mediaeval  literature.^' 


In  Wisdom,  11.  91-2,  "Wysdom,"  speaking  of  the  fear  of  God, 

says: 

The  wedis  of  synne,  J)at  makyt  to  flee, — 

And  swete  wertuus  herbys  in  \>e  sowU  sprynge. 

A  similar  comparison  of  the  soul,  or  heart,  to  a  garden  is  found  in 
Mary  Magdalene,  one  of  the  Digby  plays ;  Christ  appears  as  a 
gardener  to  Mary,  and  after  she  has  recognized  him,  says: 

Mannys  hartt  is  my  gardyn  here; 

]?er-In  I  sow  sedys  of  vertu  all  J>e  jere; 

})e  fowle  wedes  and  wycys,  I  reynd  vp  be  J^e  rote. 

6T)e  Trinitate,  Lib.  VII,  cap.  iii,  sect.  5,  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  42,  col.  938. 

''Petri  Abaelardi  Opera,  ed.  V.  Cousin,    (Paris.    1849-59),  II,   15  ff. 

•*  Tractatus  de  Erroribus  Aba,elardi,  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  182,  col.  1058-9. 

"*  Cf.  English  version  of  Mirror  of  St.  Edmund,  in  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I, 
222;  English  Works  of  Wyclif,  ed.  P.  D.  Matthew,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  LXXIV,  362-3;  Ayen- 
hUe  of  Inwyt,  120-1;  Hilton's  Scala  Perfectionis,  Pt.  I,  cap.  xliii;  etc. 


Parallel  Ideas  41 

Whan  Jjat  gardyn  is  watteryd  with  terys  clere, 
than  spryng  vertuus,  and  smelle  full  sote.°" 


The  discussion  of  the  soul  and  its  parts  in  Wisdom,  11.  95-292, 
is  conventional.  The  idea  that  knowledge  of  God  is  to  be  attained 
only  through  knowledge  of  one's  self  (11.  95-8;  for  the  direct  source 
of  these  lines  see  p.  29),  occurs  frequently  in  the  Tractatus  de 
Interiori  Domo,^''  sometimes  wrongly  attributed  to  St.  Bernard. 
It  is  also  found  in  the  translation  of  Richard  of  St.  Victor's 
Benjamin  Minor,^^  and  in  the  translation  of  the  Mirror  of  St. 
Edmund.^^  This  idea  is  based  upon  the  succeeding  one  in  the 
play,  that  the  soul  is  made  in  the  image  of  God  {Wisdom,  1.  103; 
also  11.  128,  175,  241,  etc.).  This  latter  idea  is  also  a  common  one;  "'^ 
its  source  is,  of  course,  the  Bible  {Gen.  I,  26). 


In  Wisdom,  11.  133  ff.,  the  two  parts  of  the  soul  are  said  to  be 
sensuality  and  reason  (see  ante,  p.  19).  The  first  is  defined  as 
fleshly  feeling.  Reason,  in  turn,  is  di\dded  into  the  upper  and  lower 
reason  (only  the  lower  is  named  specifically  here,  but  in  11.  298-300 
both  are  given).  With  this  division  of  the  soul  into  sensuality  and 
reason,  compare  Augustine's  "sensation"  (sensus)  and  "reason" 
(intellectus,  ratio). '^^  Lydgate  named  one  of  his  poems  Reson 
and  Sensuallyte,  and  in  it  defines  the  two  thus:  the  "vertu  sen- 

sytif "  is  the  one 

By  which  he  [man]  feleth  and  doth  knowe 
Thinges,  bothen  high  and  lowe, 
Which  to  forn  him  be  present; 

the  other,  ' '  vnderstondyng  and  reson, ' '  by  which  a  man 

of  nature  ys  resemblable 
To  goddys  that  be  pardurable; 
Knowynge  throgh  hys  dignite 
Many  thinges  that  be  secre." 

••  The  Digby  Plays,  p.  96,  11.  1081-5. 

"Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  184,  cols.  514,  541,  and  544. 

'^^  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  171. 

*^0p.  cit.,  I,  219. 

■><>  Mirror  of  St.  Edmund,  in  op.  cit.,  I,  220;  Hugo  of  St.  Victor's  Works,  in  Migne, 
Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  175,  col.  37;  Poem,  Knowe  Thy  Self  and  Thy  God,  in  Twenty-six  Poli- 
tical and  Other  Poems,  ed.  J.  Kail,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  OXXIV,  101;  etc. 

"Windelband,  Uistory  of  Philosophy,  trans.  3.  H.  Tufts,  p.  278. 

"•^  Reson  and  Sensuallyte,  ed.  E.  Sieper  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXXXIV,  20. 


42  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

In  the  Assembly  of  Gods,  Reason  and  Sensuality,  as  allegorical 
characters,  are  frequently  brought  into  opposition  (cf.  11.  1345-51; 
1361-5;  etc.).  In  the  Interlude  of  Nature,  Reason  and  Sensuality 
are  assigned  to  man  to  be  his  guides  through  life."  For  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  upper  and  lower  parts  of  reason,  see  Thomas  Aquinas, 
Summa  Theologica,  Pt.  I,  Qu.  Ixxix,  Art.  9. 


In  Wisdo7n,  11.  162,  Anima  says  that  there  are  "v.  prudent 
vyrgyns  of  my  reme,"  which  are  the  "v.  wyttis  of  my  sowll  with- 
inne;"  and  then  "v  vyrgynes  with  (white)  kertyllys  &  mantelys" 
appear  on  the  stage.  According  to  mediaeval  writers  there,  were 
ten  ''wits:"  the  five  outward  wits,  or  the  five  senses,  and  the  five 
"in wits."  These  ten  wits  were  sometimes  compared  to  the  ten 
virgins  in  the  Biblical  parable,  as  for  example  in  one  of  J^lfrie's 
sermons:  "This  present  church,  which  receives  the  evil  and  the 
good,  is  compared  to  the  ten  maidens,  of  whom  five  were  foolish 
and  five  wise.  With  five  senses  ****  every  man  lives  that  has  his 
health ;  that  is,  sight  and  hearing,  taste  and  smell  and  touch. 
These  five  senses,  if  they  are  doubled,  will  then  complete  a  ten- 
fold number."  (I  have  given  Thorpe's  modern  English  ver- 
sion.)'^* The  author  of  Wisdom  makes  this  comparison,  and  calls 
the  inwits  the  "prudent"  virgins,  as  distinguished  from  the  out- 
<\^ard  wits,  which  are  sometimes  not  "rewlyde  ordynatly"  and 
are  therefore  fittingly  likened,  by  implication,  to  the  foolish 
five.  The  inwits,  according  to  the  Lay  Folks'  Catechism,  were 
"Wyl.  /  Resoun.  /  Mynd.  /  ymaginacioun.  and  thogth."  ^^  In  Ja- 
cob's Well,  the  "v.  watyrgatys  in  J?e  indere-warde  of  pi  soule"  are 
"vndyrstondyng,  desyre,  delyjt,  mynde,  &  will."^^  It  will  be 
noted  that  among  the  five  inwits  in  the  first  passage  are  Mind, 
Reason,  and  Will;  and  in  the  second.  Mind,  Understanding,  and 
Will.  Now  Mind  and  Will,  together  with  Understanding,  accord- 
ing to  some  writers,  and  with  Reason,  according  to  others,  con- 
stitute the  three  Mights  of  the  soul.  In  the  play,  just  after  the 
five  inwits  have  been  introduced,  the  three  Mights  enter.     Hence 

"  A.  Brandl,  Quellen,  p.  78. 

'*  Homilies  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  ed.  B.  Thorpe,  II,  563. 

''^Lay  Folks'  Catechism,  ed.  Simmons  and  Nolloth,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  CXVIII,  19. 

""^Jacob's  Well,  ed.  A.  Brandeis,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  CXV,  222-3. 


Parallel  Ideas  43 

we  have  a  unique  situation,  in  which  the  same  characters  are  on 
the  stage  in  two  capacities  at  the  same  time :  as  virgins  and  as  men 
of  religion. 


The  division  of  the  soul  into  the  three  Mights,  Mind,  Will,  and 
Understanding,  was  conmionly  made  by  mediaeval  writers.  The 
division  seems  to  go  back  to  Augustine,  who  names  the  three  as 
"memoria,"  "voluntas,"  and  "  intelligentia, "  and  discusses  the 
subject  at  considerable  length."^  Some  writers  use  "intellectus" 
for  "intelligentia,"  apparently  with  the  same  meaning.  A  careful 
logician  like  Albertus  Magnus,  however,  distinguishes  between 
the  meanings  of  the  two:  "intelligentia"  he  calls  the  highest 
step  of  the  "intellectus."'**  See  also  the  discussion  of  this  point 
by  Thomas  Aquinas.^^  Still  other  writers  in  enumerating  the 
Mights  give  "ratio"  instead  of  "intelligentia"  or  "intellectus;" 
Walter  Hilton  is  one  of  these  (see  p.  24).  Our  author  chose 
"understanding"  instead  of  "reason"  probably  because  he  had 
already  used  the  latter  in  his  other  division  of  the  soul  into  reason 
and  sensuality.  This,  as  we  saw,  he  took  from  Hilton ;  the  latter's 
enumeration  of  the  Mights,  which  included  "reason,"  he  dis- 
carded, and  adopted  the  other,  which  had  "understanding"  for 
the  third  Might. 

In  Wisdo7n,  11.  279-82,  the  three  Mights  are  brought  into  con- 
nection with  the  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  Mind  with  the 
Father,  Understanding  with  the  Son,  and  Will  with  the  Holy 
Ghost  (see  ante,  p.  31.)  This  connection  goes  back  to  Augus- 
tine ;^°  and  frequently  when  later  writers  name  the  Mights,  this 
likeness  to  the  Trinity  is  noted.^^ 

In  Wisdom,  11.  285-7,  we  have  a  triple  connection  of  the  three 
Mights,  the  three  Persons  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  three  Virtues- 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity.     Cf.  the  homily,  Eoiv  Man's  Soule  is 

""  De  Trinitate,  X,  10-12;  XV,  21-3;  etc. 

"  Erdmann,  History  of  Philosophy,  trans.  W.   S.  Hough,   I,  408. 

"">  Summa  Theologica,   Pt.   I,   Qu.  Ixxix,   Art.    10. 

80  De  Trinitate,  XV,  23.  In  this  passage  Augustine  gives  "love"  instead  of  "will," 
but  in  Cap.  21  he  calls  "love"  a  "stronger  will"   (valentior  voluntas). 

wCf.  Peter  Lombard,  Sententiae,  Lib.  I,  Dist.  iii;  Ayenbite  of  Iixivyt,  pp.  105-6; 
William  Nassington's  Mirrour  of  Life,  Ms.  Addit.  22558,  fol.  5.  See  also  the  quotation 
from  Ms.  Harl.  2373  in  the  following  paragraph. 


44  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  "Wisdom 

Made  to  ]>e  Ymage  &  ]>e  Lyknes  of  ]>e  Holi  Trinite,  in  Ms.  Harl. 
2373,  fol.  12  b : 

Be  ye  refourmede  wi)?  virtewes,  J^e  mynde  wi]?  belefe.  J^e  reson  wij)  hope, 
and  t)e  wylle  wij?  charite.  and  so  yc  bene  Ij'che  to  \>e  holy  trinite.  ***** 
pe  jyfeyng  of  ])e  jiftes  of  kynde  and  ]>e  reformacion  of  ]>e  mynde  be  bileve 
answerynge  to  god  ]>e  ffader.  J^e  jyfeynge  of  \>e  3iftes  of  grace  refourmynge 
and  infourmynge  J>e  reson  to  gude  werkes.  by  ]>&  whyche  two  ioyntely.  grace 
and  werkes.  comet'  trew  hoppe  answerynge  to  ])e  wysdome  of  god.  ]>t  whyche 
wysdome  is  t>e  sone  of  J>e  fadir.  *****  and  Jje  jyfeynge  of  Jje  blyssydhode  }>e 
whyche  is  J^e  perfytest  3ift.  fynally  fulfyllynge  wij)  perfyte  charite  Jje  Jjred 
myjt  of  J>e  soule.  }?e  whyche  is  J^e  wylle.  answere  [sic]  to  god  )7e  holy  goste 
[etc.]. 


■  Lines  220-1  in  Wisdom  state  that : 

in  wyll  stondyt  only  mannys  dede. 
Wyll,  for  dede  oft  ys  take. 

"With  these  lines  compare  a  passage  from  the  tract,  A  Sentence 
to  them  that  he  in  Temptation,  Ms.  Harl.  1706,  fol.  127 : 

ffor  in  the  doom  of  god  })e  wylle  stondej)  for  deed  and  so  seyej>  holy 
wrytte  which  may  not  be  untrewe  J?at  every  good  wylle  ys  accepted  as  for 
deede. 

Cf.  also  the  Contemplations  of  the  Dread  and  Love  of  God,  wrongly 

ascribed,  says  Horstman,®'-  to  Richard  Rolle : 

Of  this  saynt  Austyn  bereth  wytnes  &  sayth:  What  thou  wylt  &  mayst 
not  do,  god  acounteth  for  dede.'' 

The  reference  to  Augustine  is  to  his  Enarratio  in  Psalmum  LVII : 

Quidquid  vis,  et  non  potes,  factum  Deus  computat.** 

This  might  easily,  however,  become  a  dangerous  doctrine.  Men 
might  plead  good  intentions  as  an  excuse  for  their  failure  to  per- 
form good  deeds,  and  in  this  way  seek  not  only  to  shield  themselves 
from  censure,  but  also  to  ease  their  own  consciences.  Later  in  the 
play  (1.  468),  therefore,  Lucifer,  who  is  tempting  the  Mights, 
advances  the  argument  that  "Gode  plesyde  best  with  goode  wyll, 
no  dowte,"  to  show  the  Mights  an  easy  way  to  accept  his  manner 
of  living  without  being  too  much  troubled  by  their  consciences. 

*2  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  xlii. 

*3  Op.  cit.,  II,  91. 

s^Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  36,  col.  677. 


Parallel  Ideas  45 

SECOND  DIVISION:    "TEMPTATION" 

In  the  second,  third,  and  fourth  divisions  of  the  play,  the  author 
follows  a  conventional  formula  covering  the  temptation,  fall,  and 
redemption  of  the  soul.  Two  versions  of  the  formula  are  here 
given,  neither  of  which  is  quite  complete: 

The  first  is  from  the  Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye : 
Ye  shulde  vnderstonde  that  there  ys  thre  maner  of  dedes  that  we  oughte 
to  do.  some  longe  to  god  somme  to  oure  selfe.  and  some  to  our  euen  crysten. 
But  these  thre  maner  of  dedes  are  often  lettyd.  and  somtyme  destroyed  by  thre 
synnes.  that  ys.  Pryde.  Couetyse.  and  flesshely  synne.  in  whiche  ar  vnder- 
stonde all  synnes.  as  saynte  lohn  sayeth.  And  so  by  them  the  thre  powers 
of  the  soulle.  that  ys  mynde.  reson.  and  wylle  are  defoyled.  Therefore  yt 
ys  necessary  for  vs  to  caste  oute  these  synnes  and  to  refourme  oure  soulle. 
by  thre  partes  of  penaunce.  that  ys  contrycyon.  confessyon.  and  satysfaccion. 
And  after  to  kepe  oure  soulle  stable  in  these  thre  vertewes.  Fayth.  Hope,  and 
Charite.  That  the  same  soulle  maye  come  at  oure  ende  to  the  trynyte  of  blysse. 
father  and  sonne  and  holy  gooste.'" 

The  second  version  is  by  St.  Bernard : 

Est  Trinitas  creatrix,  Pater  et  Filius  et  Spiritus  sanctus,  ex  qua  cecidit 
creata  trinitas,  memoria,  ratio  et  voluntas.  Et  est  trinitas  per  quam  cecidit, 
videlicet  per  suggestionem,  delectationem,  consensum.  Et  est  trinitas  in  quam 
cecidit,  videlicet  impotentia,  caecitas,  immunditia.  Rursus  trinitas  quae  cecidit, 
id  est  memoria,  ratio,  voluntas.  Singulae  cuj  usque  tripartitus  exstitit  casus. 
Memoria  cecidit  in  tres  species  cogitationum,  aflFectuosas,  onerosas,  otiosas. 
Ratio  in  triplicem  ignorantiam:  boni  et  mali,  veri  et  falsi,  commodi  et  incom- 
modi.  Voluntas  in  concupiscentiam  carnis,  concupiscentiam  oculorum,  et  am- 
bitionem  saeculi.     Est  trinitas  per  quam  resurgit,  scilicet  fides,  spes,  charitas.*" 

In  Wisdom,  the  Mights  of  the  soul — Mind,  Will,  and  Under- 
standing— the  image  of  the  Trinity,  are  led  through  the  three 
steps — suggestion,  delectation,  and  consent  (11.  365-7;  497-9)  — 
into  the  three  chief  sins — pride,  covetousness,  and  lechery  (11.  528- 
35;  552-99).  Then,  following  the  exhortation  of  Wisdom,  the  soul 
seeks  forgiveness  through  the  three  steps  in  penance — contrition, 
confession,  and  satisfaction  (11.  977-1068),— and  is  reformed  in 
faith,  hope,  and  charity  (11.  1122,  1130,  and  1137).  All  the  parts 
of  this  process,  except  the  first— the  three  steps  leading  to  sin- 
are  found  in  the  version  of  the  formula  from  the  Myroure;  the 
omitted  part  is  found  in  the  version  of  St.  Bernard,  which  in 
turn  lacks  the  three  steps  in  penance,  and  does  not  definitely  name 

85  Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye,  p.  99. 

^  Sermonea  de  Diversis,  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  183,  col.  669. 


46  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

the  three  chief  sins.  The  successive  elements  of  the  formula  will 
be  examined  in  their  proper  places  in  tlie  following  discussion. 

The  Second  Division  of  the  play  (11.  325-551)  describes  the 
temptation  of  the  Mights  by  Lucifer. 

When  Lucifer  first  appears,  he  is  dressed  in  a  "dewyllys  a-ray 
withowt,  &  with-in  as  a  prowde  galonte"  (stage  direction  before 
1.  325).  The  "dewyllys  a-ray"  was  probably  some  form  of  the 
more  or  less  conventionalized  costume  which  Eckhardt  describes.^^ 
Later,  in  order  not  to  frighten  his  intended  victims,  Lucifer  leaves 
the  stage,  divests  himself  of  this  devil's  garb,  and  returns  in  the 
guise  of  a  "goodly  galont"  (after  1.  380),  the  more  prominent  fea- 
tures of  his  costume  being  probably  exaggerated  for  the  purpose 
of  satirizing  contemporary  fashions.  The  devil  appears  in  other 
"religious"  plays  in  a  similar  costume.  In  the  Digby  Mary  Mag- 
dalene, Curiosity,  who  seduces  Mary,  announces  himself  with  "Hof, 
hof,  hof,  a  frysch  new  galavnt,"  and  describes  his  costume.^^  In 
the  Coventry  (N-Towoi)  Council  of  the  Jews,  Lucifer  appears  as 
a  dandy,  dressed  in  the  latest  fashion,  and  says:  "Byholde  the 
dy\'ercyte  of  my  dysgysyed  varyauns."  Then  he  describes  his 
"long  peykyd  schon,"  his  "hosyn  enclosyd  of  the  most  costyous 
cloth  of  crenseyn,"  his  "shert  of  feyn  Holond,"  etc.,  all  of  the 
latest  style.  Later,  he  gives  directions  to  his  followers  as  to  how 
they  shall  dress,  exhibiting  himself  at  the  same  time,  no  doubt,  as 
a  sort  of  fashion  plate  which  they  are  to  copy.^^ 

Eckhardt  suggests  the  similarity  between  this  Lucifer  and  the 
Lucifer  of  Wisdom.^'^  This  suggestion  is  a  good  one :  the  two  are 
similar  not  only  in  costume,  but  also  in  general  character.  They 
have  little  of  the  buffoonery,  and  none  of  the  obscenity,  which  char- 
acterize many  of  the  devils  of  the  mystery  plays.  Both  pride  them- 
selves on  their  wiliness  and  skill  as  tempters.  Both  tell  of  their 
fall  from  heaven,  and  announce  their  intention  of  avenging  their 
grievance — by  seducing  the  Mights,  in  Wisdom;  and  by  bringing 
confusion  to  Christ,  in  the  Council.  Of  course,  this  similarity  does 
not  mean  that  there  is  any  direct  relationship  between  the  two 

^  E.  Eckhardt,  Die  lustige  Person  im  alteren  englischen  Drama,  pp.  56  ff. 

^The  Digby  Plays,  p.  73,  11.  491  ff. 

^  Ludus  Coventriae,  pp.  241-2. 

»"  E.  Eckhardt,  Die  lustige  Person  im  alteren  englischen  Drama,  p.  73. 


Parallel  Ideas  47 

plays;  it  merely  points  to  the  conclusion  that  our  author's  concep- 
tion of  Lucifer  was  more  or  less  conventional.  An  examination  of 
the  details  of  this  conception  will  prove  that  this  conclusion  is 
correct. 

In  the  first  place,  Lucifer,  in  Wisdom,  enters  with  the  cry,  ' '  Owt 
harow!"  In  The  Creation,  and  the  Fall  of  Lucifer  in  the  York 
plays  Lucifer  begins  his  speech  with  "Owte  owte!  harrowe!"^^ 
In  the  York  Dream  of  Pilate's  Wife,  the  devil  on  entering  uses  the 
same  words  (p.  277,  1.  159)  ;  in  the  York  Harrowing  of  Hell,  when 
Christ  enters  the  gates  of  Hell,  Satan  says,  "Owte!  harrowe!"  (p. 
383,  1.  185)  ;  and  in  the  same  play  Satan  again  exclaims,  "Owt,  ay! 
herrowe!"  (p.  392,  1.  343).  In  Mary  Magdalene  of  the  Digby 
group,  "Rex  deabolus"  says,  "A,  owt,  owt,  and  harrow!"^-  and 
in  the  same  play,  a  devil,  entering,  cries,  "Ow3t!  ow3t!  harrow  I 
may  crye  and  yelle"  (p.  91,  1.  963). 

Again,  the  Lucifer  of  Wisdom,  as  he  enters,  "roars,"  as  indi- 
cated in  1.  325:  "Owt  harow,  I  rore!"  In  the  Conversion  of  St. 
Paid,  Digby  plays,  a  devil  called  Mercury  comes  in,  "cryeng  and 
roryng"  (p.  44,  stage  direction  after  1.  432)  ;  and  Belial  and  Mer- 
cury "shal  rore  and  crye"  (p.  45,  stage  direction  after  1.  470).  In 
the  Digby  3Iary  Magdalene,  a  devil  cries  and  yells  (last  quotation 
in  the  preceding  paragraph). 

In  Wisdom,  11.  333-6,  Lucifer  tells  of  his  fall  from  heaven : 

I  was  a  angell  of  lyghte; 
Lucyfeer,  I  hyght, 
Presumynge  in  Godis  syght, 
Werfor  I  am  lowest  in  hell. 

The  story  of  the  fall  has  become  familiar  to  modern  readers  through 
Milton's  Paradise  Lost;  in  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  very  common, 
and,  although  extra-canonical,  was  sanctioned  by  the  Church.  The 
legend  had  behind  it  the  authority  of  Gregory  the  Great  and  Avitus 
of  Vienne.  Its  popularity  is  attested  by  its  occurrence  in  many 
works;  for  example,  those  of  Caedmon,  Bede,  ^Ifric,  Peter  Com- 
estor,  and  Hugo  of  St.  Victor;  the  Cursor  Mundi,  the  Legenda 
Aurea,  and  a  number  of  the  mystery  plays.     A  full  discussion  of 

"  York  Plays,  p.  5,  1.  97. 

M  The  Digby  Plays,  p.  82,  1.  722. 


48  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

tlie  origin  and  development  of  the  legend  is  given  by  CM.  Gayley, 
Plays  of  Our  Forefathers,  pp.  236  ff."^ 

Two  conventional  ideas  are  contained  in  Wisdom,  11.  326-8  and 

337-9 : 

For  envy  I  lore, 
My  place  to  restore, 

God  hath  mad  a  man. 

************ 

In  reformynge  of  my  place,  ys  dyght 

Man,  whan  I  haue  most  dyspyght, 

Euer  castynge  me  with  hem  to  fyght. 

The  idea  that  man  was  created  to  fill  the  places  of  the  fallen 

angels  "runs  back  through  Anglo-Saxon  literature,  Avitus  of  Vien- 

ne,  and  Anselm's  famous  treatise  Cur  Deus  Homo,  to  Gregory  and 

Augustine. ' '  ^^    The  following  account,  from  the  Fall  and  Passion, 

one  of  the  Kildare-Gedickte  is  only  one  of  many  in  English : 
For  t>e  prude  of  Lucifer 
pe  tejje  angle  fille  in  to  helle. 
And  al  Jjat  to  him  boxum  were 
Euer  in  pine  hi  mot  dwelle. 
Har  stides  forto  fulfille 
pat  wer  ifalle  for  prude  and  hore — 
God  makid  Adam  to  is  ^ville.®^ 

The  other  idea  in  the  passage  quoted  above — that  Lucifer  is 
envious  of  man  and  is  determined  to  destroy  his  happiness — occurs 
in  the  Old  English  Genesis,  w.  364-8,  and  frequently  in  the  mystery 
plays.  The  following  are  two  instances :  In  the  Coventry  (N-Town) 
Fall  of  Man,  Deus  asks  Diabolus  why  he  tempted  Adam  and  Eve, 
and  Diabolus  replies : 

I  ded  hem  alle  this  velony, 

ffor  I  am  ful  of  gret  envy. 

Of  wrethe  and  wyckyd  hate. 

That  man  xulde  leve  above  the  sky. 

Where  as  sumtyme  dwellyd  I, 

And  now  I  am  cast  to  helle  sty.** 

In  the  Digby  Mary  Magdalene  (p.  68,  11.  364  ff.),  Satan  says: 

»'  See  also  references  in  W.  W.  Skeat,  Piers  Plowman,  II,  25. 

»*  C.  M.  Gayley,  Plays  of  Our  Forefathers,  p.  245. 

"^  Die  Eildare-Gedichte,  ed.  W.  Heuser,  p.  107,  11.  29-35.  For  other  versions  see  the 
Catechism  of  Adrian  &  Epotys,  in  the  Brome  Commonplace  Book,  ed.  L.  T.  Smith,  p.  28; 
The  Creation,  and  the  Fall  of  Lucifer,  in  the  York  Plays,  p.  6,  11.  139  ff;  and  The  Castle 
of  Perseverance,  11.  3497-3503,  in  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  181. 

w  Ludus  Coventriae,  ed.  J.  O.  Halliwell,  for  Shakespeare  Society,  1841,  p.  29. 


Parallel  Ideas  49 

Mannis  sowie  to  be-segyn  and  bryng  to  obeysavns, 
}a.  [with]  tyde  and  tyme  I  do  ))at  I  may, 
for  at  hem  I  haue  dysspyte  J)at  he  xold  haue  J>e  loye 
That  lycyfer,  with  many  a  legyown,  lost  for  ]jer  pryde. 

These  three  topics — the  fall  of  Lucifer  and  his  followers,  the 

creation  of  man  to  fill  their  place,  and  their  consequent  envy  of 

man — are  combined  in  the  speech  of  Lucifer  in  the  Towneley  play 

of  The  Creation,  as  in  that  of  the  Lucifer  of  Wisdom: 

The  Creation,  11.  254-67: 

[Ten]  orders  in  heuen  were 

of  angels,  that  had  oifyce  sere; 

Of  ich  order,  in  thare  degre, 

the  [teynd]  parte  fell  downe  with  me; 

ffor  thay  held  with  me  that  tyde, 

and  mantenyd  me  in  my  pride; 

Bot  herkyns,  felows,  what  I  say — 

the  loy  that  we  haue  lost  for  ay, 

God  has  maide  man  with  his  hend, 

to  haue  that  blis  withoutten  end. 

The  neyn  ordre  to  fulfill, 

that  after  vs  left,  sich  is  his  will. 

And  now  ar  thay  in  paradise; 

bot  thens  thay  shall,  if  we  be  wise." 

A  number  of  pages  of  the  Ms.  are  lost  here;  consequently,  we 
get  only  a  suggestion  of  the  "envy"  and  of  the  plot  to  ruin  man, 
which  were  discussed  in  the  lost  pages. 

In  Wisdo7n,  11.  343-5,  Lucifer  says  that  he  varies  his  temptations 
to  suit  the  different  complexions  of  men : 

I  know  all  compleccions  of  a  man, 
Wer-to  he  ys  most  dysposyde; 
Ande  per-in  I  tempte  ay  whan. 

Cf.   The  Remedy  against   the   Troubles  of   Temptations,  wrongly 

ascribed  to  Richard  Rolle :  ^^ 

Leo  the  pope  sayth:  The  fende  our  ghostly  enemy  aspyeth  in  euery  man 
what  wyse  he  is  dyspo»ed  by  his  compleccyon  /  and  by  that  disposicyon  he 
tempteth  hym."* 

See  also  William  Bond's  Consolatory,  cap.  13  (printed  with  Hil- 
ton's Scala  Perfectionis  in  Brit.  Mus.  copy,  C.21.  b.l5;  pages  not 
numbered)  : 

"  The  Towneley  Plays,  pp.  8-9. 

8'  Richard  Rolle  of  Uampole,  II,  xliii. 

»»  Op.  cit.,  II,  109. 


50  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

The  enemy  when  he  wold  deceyve  man  /  he  fyrst  consyderyth  of  what 
complexion  he  is.  And  so  applyeth  his  ordynaunce  &  layeth  sege  to  manes 
soule  /  where  he  fyndeth  hym  most  weke.  and  appte  to  receyve  his  sugges- 
tions.   Saynt  Gregory  affyrmyth  the  same  in  his  morals. 

Bond  later  says  that  St.  Leo  also  discusses  this  idea  in  a  sermon 
on  the  nativity  (side  note  says,  "Sermo  VII.").  The  reference  to 
St.  Gregory's  Moralia  is  probahly  to  the  following  passage:  "In- 
tuetur  ergo  inimicus  generis  humani  uniuscujusque  mores  cui  vitio 
sint  propinqui,  et  ilia  opponit  ante  faciem  ad  quae  cognoscit  faci- 
lius  inclinari  mentem. "  ^°°  I  have  not  traced  the  reference  to  St. 
Leo. 

Lucifer  says  in  Wisdom,  11.  360-4 : 

And  ]7e  flesche  of  man  J>at  ys  so  changeable, 
That  wj^U  I  tempte,  as  I  gees, 
Thow  J'at  I  perwert,  synne  non  ys 
But  yflf  J^e  soule  consent  to  Jjis, 

for  in  t>e  wyll  of  I?e  soule  the  dedis  ben  damnable. 

A  similar  idea  occurs  in  the  Vision  of  Philihert  regarding  the  Body 
and  the  Soul;  the  Body  says  to  the  Soul : 

How  myjt  the  body  syne,  I  pray  the  take  hede, 

Withoute  the  soule? 

Then  the  Body  explains  his  position :  the  soul  is  given  sovereignty 
over  the  body,  whose  duty  is  to  obey  the  soul;  and  since  the  body 
can  do  nothing  without  the  consent  of  the  soul,  the  responsibility 
for  all  sin  belongs  to  the  latter.^°^ 

The  other  two  principal  ideas  in  Lucifer's  first  speech — that  the 
soul  is  made  up  of  the  three  Mights,  who  are  the  image  of  the 
Trinity  (11.  357-9),  and  that  the  three  steps  leading  to  sin  are  sug- 
gestion, delectation,  and  consent  (11.  365-7) — are  discussed  else- 
where on  pages  43  and  56,  respectively. 

Lucifer  now  goes  out  to  divest  himself  of  his  "dewyllys  aray," 
and  the  Mights  appear  on  the  stage.  After  they  have  announced 
their  intention  of  being  loyal  to  Jesus,  Lucifer  re-appears  and  pro- 
ceeds artfully  to  tempt  them.  The  Mights  are  represented  as 
monks,  as  is  sho\vn  by  the  following  particulars :  Lucifer  addresses 
them  as  "ye  fonnyde  fathers"  (1.  393)  ;  he  advises  them  to  leave  their 
"syngler  besynes"  and  "be  in  ]>e  worlde"  (11.  441-2)  ;  to  avoid  all 

loo  Moralia,  XIV,   13,  in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.  75,  col.  1048. 

^'>^  Early  English  Miscellanieg,  ed.  J.  O.  Halliwell,  p.  21   (Warton  Club  Publications). 


Parallel  Ideas  51 

"syngler  deuocions"  (1.  452)  ;  to  leave  their  studies  ")?ow  ]>ey 
ben  dyivjjn"  hnd  "lede  a  comun  Ijrff"  (11.  470-2)  ;  and  to  leave 
their  "nyce  chastyte  &  take  a  wyff"  (1.  476).  Will,  almost  con- 
vinced by  Lucifer's  arguments,  admits  that  it  seems  reasonable 
that  "in  body  &  soule,  Man  may  be  in  pe  wo  ride,  &  be  ryght  goode" 
(11.  485-6).  Again,  when  Lucifer  says  (11.  419-28)  that  Christ  was 
never  in  contemplation,  he  evidently  means  contemplation  in  the 
monastic  sense;  and  his  description  of  the  contemplative  life  as 
consisting  of  fasting;  waking;  praying;  hard  living,  with  due 
discipline ;  keeping  silence ;  weeping ;  and  eschewing  of  surfeits  (11. 
431-5),  is  primarily  true  of  life  in  the  cloister.  Some  of  these  parti- 
culars apply  to  the  secular  clergy,  and  others  to  the  friars,  as  well  as 
to  the  monks.  The  admonition  to  leave  their  studies,  however,  does 
not  fit  the  secular  clergy,  for,  in  most  cases,  they  were  notoriously 
illiterate.  Also,  the  contemplative  life  which  is  described  is,  as 
we  have  seen,  the  life  of  the  cloister,  with  its  rule  of  silence  and 
its  hard  discipline ;  it  does  not  correspond  at  all  with  the  life  of  the 
seculars,  and  it  is  much  more  appropriate  to  the  monks  than  to 
the  friars,  whose  business  was  to  go  about  in  the  world.  "We  con- 
clude, then,  that  the  Mights  are  represented  as  monks. 

Lucifer's  arguments  are  chosen  mth  especial  reference  to  the 
monkish  character  of  his  victims.  He  first  touches  upon  one  of 
the  most  vulnerable  points  in  the  monastic  life — idleness.  "Vt," 
he  says  in  1.  394,  "quid  hie  statis  tota  die  ociosi?"  craftily  using 
the  words  of  Christ  in  the  parable  of  the  workers  in  the  vineyard 
(Matt.  XX,  6),  and  thus  giving  to  his  rebuke  some  of  the  author- 
ity that  the  Master's  words  would  naturally  carry.  Idleness  was 
a  vice  to  which  the  members  of  the  religious  orders  were  peculiarly 
subject,  and  the  monks  most  of  'all.  It  was  the  cause  of  frequent 
attacks  upon  both  the  monastic  and  the  mendicant  orders.  For  in- 
stance, in  a  poem  On  the  Council  of  London  (1382),  Wyclif  and 
his  disciples  are  represented  as  advising  the  Benedictine  monks 
that  they  ought  not  to  live  lazily,  but  that  they  should  work  with 
their  hands.  The  poet  also  advises  the  friars  not  to  beg  but  to 
work,  and  enforces  his  argument  by  citing  the  example  of  St. 
Francis,  who  was  accustomed  to  do  manual  labor.'"^    Again,  Jacke 

^^  Political  Poems  and  Songs,  ed.  T.  Wright,   (Rolls  Series),  I,  258-9. 


52  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Upland,  the  hero  of  a  satirical  poem  of  the  same  name  (1401),  says 

to  the  friars : 

Then  might  ye  have 

both  plough  and  cart^ 

and  labour  as  other  good  men  done, 

and  not  so  to  beg  by  losengery, 

and  idle,  as  ye  done."" 

In  An  Apology  for  Lollard  Doctrines,  attributed  to  Wyclif,  a  sim- 
ilar charge  of  idleness  is  made : 

And  eft  Austeyn  seijj,  Wat  do  pey  J^at  wil  not  wirk  bodily?  I  desire  to 
wit  to  wat  Jjing  pey  tent?  [Then,  anticipating  the  answer,  the  author  con- 
tinues] :  J>ei  sey  to  prayor,  salmis,  and  redingis,  and  to  pe  word  of  God, 
pat  is  preching,  forsoj?,  he  seijj,  an  holy  lif.  But  if  we  schal  not  be  callid 
fro  l>eis  J?ingis,  we  schal  not  eyt,  ne  meytis  ar  not  to  be  mad  redy,  ilk  day 
J)at  J?ey  be  tan.^"* 

This  anticipated  answer,  it  will  be  noted,  is  similar  to  the  reply 
given  by  Mind  to  the  charge  of  Lucifer  {Wisdom,  1.  398)  :  "He  is 
not  ydyll,  pat  with  Gode  ys." 

Lucifer  now  begins  his  systematic  temptation  of  the  Mights  in 
accordance  mth  the  plan  which  he  had  outlined  in  his  opening 
speech  (11.  365-7)  : 

To  pe  mynde  of  J^e  soule  I  xall  mak  suggestyun, 
Ande  brynge  hys  wndyrstondynge  to  dylectacion. 
So  J»at  hys  wyll  make  confyrmacion. 

The  first  step  is  "suggestion,"  which  he  addresses  to  Mind  (11. 
397  ff.).  He  advances  the  familiar  argument,  that  all  things,  such 
as  prayer,  fasting,  and  labor,  have  due  times,  and  when  the  proper 
time  is  not  observed,  a  man  does  wrong.  Then  he  puts  a  case: 
suppose  a  man  has  a  wife,  children,  and  servants;  if  he  leaves  his 
work  to  follow  the  contemplative  life,  then  those  dependent  upon 
him  perish.  Surely,  says  Lucifer,  God  is  not  pleased  with  such  a 
man.  This  problem  arose  frequently  in  the  mediaeval  religious 
life.  There  were  many  men  who,  if  they  had  been  free  from  worldly 
ties,  would  have  entered  one  of  the  religious  orders,  but  who  were 
so  situated  that  they  felt  unable  to  do  so.  The  recognition  of  this 
fact  led  to  the  formation  of  the  Tertiaries,  that  is,  organizations 
of  men  still  living  in  the  world,  but  conforming  as  closely  as  their 

«»  Op.  cit.,  n,  27. 

i"*id.n  Apology  for  Lollard  Doctrines,  ed.  J.  H.  Todd   (Camden  Society  Publication!. 
1842),  p.   106. 


Parallel  Ideas  53 

circumstances  would  allow  to  the  rules  of  the  order  to  which  they 
were, auxiliary.  It  was  to  a  "deuout  man  in  temperal  estate,"  who 
was  perplexed  by  the  seemingly  conflicting  demands  of  a  secular 
and  a  contemplative  life,  that- Walter  Hilton  wrote  his  Epistle  on 
Mixed  Life.  In  this  Epistle,  Hilton  advances  the  same  argument 
for  the  mixed  life  that  Lucifer  uses  (passage  quoted  among  the 
sources,  ante,  p.  26). 

In  1.  413,  Lucifer  cites  Martha,  who  in  mediaeval  theology  was 
the  regular  representative  of  the  active  life,  as  Mary  was  the  rep- 
resentative of  the  contemplative  life.  (Many  writers  recognize 
only  the  contemplative  and  the  active  life,  including  the  mixed  life 
under  the  latter. )  ' '  Mertha, ' '  says  Lucifer,  ' '  plesyde  Gode  grettly 
thore. ' '  To  this,  Mind  retorts,  "  Ye ;  but  Maria  plesyde  hym  moche 
more."  Here  we  have  a  reference  to  Christ's  visit  to  the  home  of 
Mary  and  Martha.  Martha  busied  herself  with  providing  for  the 
entertainment  of  the  Master ;  Mary  sat  at  His  feet  listening  to  His 
words.  Martha  complained  that  Mary  was  not  doing  her  share  of 
the  work,  whereupon  Jesus  reproved  her,  saying:  "Martha,  Martha, 
thou  art  careful  and  troubled  about  many  things :  But  one  thing 
is  needful:  and  Mary  hath  chosen  that  good  part  "  {Luke  X,  41, 
42).  Instances  of  the  use  of  this  idea  are  common;  for  one,  see  the 
passage  quoted  from  Hilton,  p.  27.  Another  is  in  the  Informacio 
Alredi  Abhatis  Monasterij  de  Rieualle  ad  Sororem  Suam: 

Suster,  know  wel  ]>e  condicioun  of  ]>y  lyf.  per  were  two  sustren,  Marthe 
and  Marye:  {lat  oon  trauaylede,  p&i  oJ?er  restyde.  *****  Marthe  jaf  out- 
ward seruise,  Marie  nurschede  ynward  loue.  *****  Marie  was  not  dis- 
tracte  aboute  husbondrye  ****  bote  sche  saat  meekely  at  Jhesu  feet  &  herde 
deuoutly  his  word  and  his  lore.  My  diere  sister,  })is  is  )>y  party:  pu  J)at 
art  deed  to  \>e  wordle  [sic]  &  ybyried.  *****  Let  Marthe  alone  wil?  )?at 
partye,  whos  partye  all)0U3  it  be  nou3t  deneyed  good,  Maries  partye  naj^eles 
is  y-seyd  ])e  bettere."" 

Lucifer  strengthens  his  argument  by  showing  that  Christ  led 
not  a  contemplative  but  a  mixed  life  (11.  419-28).  The  same  idea 
occurs  in  Hilton's  Epistle  on  Mixed  Life  (quoted  on  p.  27)  ;  and  in 
Misyn's  The  Fire  of  Love  (1435),  a  translation  of  Richard  Rolle's 
Incendium  Amoris  : 

Criste    truly   had    no    scrithyng   Jjoghtis,    and    contemplatife    he    was    not 

^<»Eng.  Stud.,  VII,  318. 


54  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

in  comon  maner  als  sayntis  in  l?is  lyf  ar  oonteinplatife;  hyro  nedyd  not  treuly 
labyr  als  vs  nedis,  for  fro  ]>e  begynnynge  of  his  consaueing  he  sawe  gude."" 

Mind  is  not  yet  convinced,  and  so  Lucifer  recounts  the  rigors  of 
the  contemplative  life:    fasting,  waking,  hard  living,  harsh  dis- 
cipline, weeping,  etc. ;  and  then  draws  a  picture  of  the  feebleness  of 
wit  and  the  madness  that  result  from  such  practices  (11.  437-9)  : 
Wan  Jjey  haue  wastyde  by  feyntnes, 
Than  febyll  per  wyttis,  &  fallyn  to  fondnes, 
Sum  in-to  dyspeyer,  &  sum  in-to  madnes. 

In  Hilton's  Scala  Pcrfectionis,  Satan  is  said  to  use  just  this 
sort  of  temptation  (passage  quoted  on  p.  24).  Cf.  also  William 
Bond's  Consolatory,  cap.  xvii;  Bond  says  that  sometimes  the  devil 
in  tempting  the  soul  will  say: 

-  If  thou  cease  not  from  this  worke  /  or  that  worke  /  thou  shalt  falle  in 
this  horryble  syknes  /  as  the  falyng  syknes  /  the  frensy  /  the  pawlsey  or  the 
pestylence.^*" 

Hilton  and  the  majority  of  the  other  religious  wjiters  believed 
in  penance,  but  they  recognized  the  dangers  of  it  when  carried 
to  excess.  Accordingly,  one  finds  many  warnings  against  undue 
mortification  of  the  body  much  in  the  manner  of  Lucifer's  warn- 
ing against  penance  of  all  kinds.  In  the  Scala  Perfectionis,  Pt.  I, 
cap.  xxii,  Hilton  says:  "For  anence  thy  bodely  kynde  it  is  good 
for  to  use  descresyon  in  etynge  drynkynge  &  slepynge.  &  in  al 
maner  bodely  penaunce.  ******  in  all  thyse  werkes  it  is  gode  to 
kepe  discrecyon  /  for  the  meane  is  the  best."  Richard  Rolle,  in 
the  Form  of  Perfect  Living,  quotes  Jerome  and  Bernard  as  fol- 
lows :  ' '  Saynt  lerome  says,  \>aX  he  makys  of  rauyn  offerand  ]?at  out- 
ragely  tourmentis  his  body  in  oure-lytel  mete  or  slepe.  And 
saynt  Bernarde  sais :  Fastyng  &  wakyng  lettes  noght  gastly  godes, 
hot  helpes,  if  J?ai  be  done  with  discrecion ;  with-outen  ]?at,  j^ai  er 
vices."  ^°*    Similar  warnings  are  numerous. 

Thus,  the  principal  parts  of  Lucifer's  "suggestion"  are  to  be 
found  in  the  writings  of  orthodox  churchmen ;  Hilton,  for  example, 
uses  all  of  them.  As  we  have  seen,  the  author  of  Wisdom  drew 
largely  upon  Hilton  for  material,  and  no  doubt  he  fully  agreed 
with  Hilton's  attitude  on  the  mixed  life.    Why,  then,  does  he  as- 

1°*  R.  Misyn's  Fire  of  Love,  and  Mending  of  Life,  ed.  R.  Harvey,  E.  E.  T.  S., 
CVI,  49. 

^'"  In  the  Brit.  Mus.  copy,  C.  21.  b.  15,  of  the  Scala  Perfectionis. 

^0*'  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  I,  7. 


Parallel  Ideas  55 

sign  Hilton's  ideas  to  Lucifer,  and  make  the  latter  use  them  as 
arguments  in  tempting  the  Mights?  Lucifer's  first  argument,  with 
its  hypothetical  case  of  a  man  with  wife,  children,  and  servants,  is, 
it  must  be  remembered,  addressed  to  the  Mights,  who  are  monks. 
Now  Hilton's  Epistle  on  Mixed  Life  is  addressed  to  a  man  in  "tem- 
peral  estate,"  and  he  is  careful  to  stipulate  that  the  mixed  life  is 
not  for  the  monks  and  others  in  similar  circumstances.  They  have 
renounced  all  earthly  obligations,  and  their  whole  life  should  be 
spent  in  the  contemplation  of  God.  His  argument,  therefore,  does 
not  apply  to  the  Mights;  and  any  misapplication  of  it  that  would 
include  them  is  prompted  by  Satan  and  is  properly  put  into  the 
mouth  of  Lucifer.  The  same  is  true  of  the  argument  that  Christ 
led  a  mixed,  not  a  contemplative,  life.  When  used  by  Lucifer  to 
prove  to  the  Mights  that  they  should  follow  His  example,  it  is 
given  a  meaning  that  was  never  intended  by  writers  like  Hilton. 
The  latter  distinctly  states  that  Christ  lived  thus  in  order  "to 
stere  sum  men  to  vse  ]?is  medled  lyf"  (first  sentence  from  cap. 
V;  see  ante,  p.  27).  Not  all  men  are  to  use  it,  and  certainly  not  the 
monks.  This  argument,  therefore,  is  also  not  applicable  to  the 
Mights.  Again,  Lucifer  declares  that  the  contemplative  life  leads 
to  faintness,  feebleness,  and  madness.  He  states  this  baldly  and 
unconditionally.  Hilton  and  the  other  writers  cited  say  that  these 
are  the  results  of  excessive  penance,  not  that  they  necessarily  ac- 
company the  contemplative  life.  This,  then,  is  Lucifer's  method: 
he  takes  arguments  that  are  unimpeachable  when  applied  to  the 
conditions  that  Hilton  and  the  other  writers  had  in  mind,  and 
twists  them  into  connection  with  entirely  different  conditions.  In 
this  way  he  gives  to  his  arguments  the  weight  that  the  ideas  of  the 
religious  leaders  always  carried  in  the  Middle  Ages,  when  appeal 
to  "authority"  settled  all  questions.  It  is  in  his  use  of  such  argu- 
ments that  Lucifer  shows  his  craftiness. 

Mind  cannot  answer  Lucifer's  "suggestion,"  and  the  hardest 
part  of  the  latter 's  three-fold  task  is  finished.  He  soon  brings  Un- 
derstanding into  "delectation"  by  pointing  out  the  advantages  of 
being  rich  (11.  451-62),  and  Will  into  "consent"  by  urging  him  to 
eat  and  drink  well,  and,  above  all,  to  leave  his  "nyce  chastyte,  & 
take  a  wyff"  (11.  469-92). 

The  division  of  the  soul's  progress  toward  sin  into  the  three 


56  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

steps — suggestion,  delectation,  and  consent — is  used  by   Chaucer 

in  the  Parson's  Tale  (11.  331  ff.)  : 

There  may  ye  seen  that  deadly  synne  hath  first  suggestioun  of  the  feend, 
as   sheweth   heere   by   the   naddre,  and   afterward   the   delit   of  the  flessh,   as 
sheweth  heere  by  Eve,  and  after  that  the  consentynge  of  resoun,  as  sheweth 
heere  by  Adam. 
It  also  occurs  in  ^If  ric  's  sermons : 

On  tSreo  wisan  bits  deofles  costnung;  })aet  is  on  tihtinge,  on  lustfullunge, 
on  getSafunge.^"* 

See  also  the  "formula"  from  St.  Bernard,  quoted  ante,  p.  45, 
Gregory  the  Great  gives  four  steps :  ' '  Quatuor  quippe  modis  pecca- 
tum  perpetratur  in  corde  *  *  *  *  namque  suggestione,  delectatione, 
consensu,  et  defensionis  audacia  perpetratur.""" 

The  Mights  are  now  ready  to  give  up  the  contemplative  life 

{Wisdom,  11.  497-9): 

Mynde.    To  Jiis  suggestyon  a-gre  we. 
Wndyrstondynge.    Delyght  J^er-In,  I  haue  truly. 
Wyll.    And  I  consent  J)er-to  frelye. 

Mind  announces  his  determination  to  win  "  worschyppys ; "  Under- 
standing will  have  "worschyppys  &  glory;"  "^  and  Will  intends  to 
enjoy  the  "lustis  of  lechery"  (11.  514-6).  They  go  off  the  stage  to 
discard  their  garb  of  "innocence,"  and  to  array  themselves  in  the 
latest  fashion. 

Lucifer,  left  alone  on  the  stage,  exults  over  his  success  and 
outlines  his  plan  for  the  further  corruption  of  the  Mights.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  at  the  beginning  of  his  temptation  Lucifer 
advocated  the  mixed  life,  not  one  of  extreme  worldliness.  All  the 
time,  of  course,  he  had  the  latter  in  mind ;  but  knowing  the  previous 
religious  training  of  the  Mights  and  being  fearful  that  too  bold  an 
argument  would  frighten  them,  he  contented  himself  with  urging 
them  to  take  the  middle  ground.  If  they  did  that,  they  would 
break  their  vows,  and  then  he  felt  sure  that  they  would  go  further. 
Now  he  declares  that  he  will  lead  them  into  the  three  chief  sins — 
pride,  covetousness,  and  lechery  (11.  528-35) — for  which  they  have 
already  expressed  their  liking. 

^o*  HomUiea  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  ed.  B.  Thorpe,  I,  174. 

^^  Moralia,  Lib.  IV,  cap.  xxvii,   in  Migne,  Pat.  Lat.,  torn.   75,  col.   661. 

"1  This  is  not  in  keeping  with  Understanding's  later  character :  he  stands  for  covetous- 
ness;  Mind,  for  pride.  "Worschyppys  &  glory,"  therefore,  belong  to  Mind  rather  than  to 
Understanding. 


Parallel  Ideas  57 

The  grouping  of  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins  under  these  chief  sins 
is  of  common  occurrence  in  mediaeval  literature.  According'  to  the 
"formula"  from  the  Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye,  quoted  on  p.  45: 

[Man's  good  deeds  are  hindered  and  often  destroj^ed  by]  Pryde.  Couetyse. 
and  flesshely  sjTine.  in  whiche  ar  vnderstonde  all  synnes.  as  saynte  fohn  sayeth. 
A  marginal  note  gives  the  reference,  '*Pri.  loan  ij,"  which  is 
apparently  intended  for  /  John  II,  16:  "Quoniam  omne  quod  est 
in  mundo  concupiscentia  carnis  est,  et  concupiscentia  oculorum,  et 
superbia  vitae,  quae  non  est  ex  Patre,  sed  ex  mundo  est."  The 
Cursor  MuncU  has : 

Couetise  lecchery  and  pride 

HaJ?  spred  J>is  world  on  euery  syde."f 

Cf.    Contemplations   of   the   Dread   and   Love    of    God,   wrongly 

ascribed  to  Richard  Rolle  : 

Thre  thynges  there  be  in  the  worlde  as  I  rede  whiche  men  desyre  aboue 
all  other  worldely  thynges.  The  fyrst  is  rychesse.  The  seconde  is  lustes.  And 
J7e  thyrde  is  worshyp.  ******  Ryches  engendreth  couetyse;  lustes  noryssheth 
glotonye  &  lecherye  /  &  worshyp  noryssheth  boost  &  pryde."^ 

Lucifer's  work  is  now  done,  and  he  disappears  from  the  play. 

He  concludes  his  speech  (11.  548-51)  : 

Thus,  by  colours  and  false  gynne. 
Many  a  soule  to  hell  I  wyn. 
Wyde  to  go  I  may  not  blyne 

With  J>is  fals  boy;  God  gyff  hjnn  euell  grace! 
Her  he  takyt  a  screwde  boy  with  hym,  &  goth  hys  wey,  cryenge. 

This  act  of  catching  up  and  carrying  off  the  "screwde  boy,"  per- 
haps one  from  the  audience,  is  so  different  from  Lucifer's  previous 
behavior,  and  so  foreign  to  his  character  of  a  clever  logician,  that 
Eckhardt  pronounces  it  "ein  Beispiel  eines  ursprlinglicli  impro- 
visierten  Spasses"  which  is  intended  merely  to  produce  laughter.^^* 
Cushman  ^^^  and  Gayley  ""^  also  call  it  an  interpolation.  This  inci- 
dent is  better  explained,  it  seems  to  me,  as  a  reminiscence  of  a  com- 
mon function  of  the  Devil  in  the  mystery  plays:  the  carrying  off 
of  the  souls  and  sometimes  the  bodies  of  the  dead  to  hell.  For  in- 
ns Cwraor  Mundi,  ed.  R.  Morris,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  LVII,  etc.,  p.  103,  11.  1645-6. 
^">  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  81.  Cf.  also  Uyrnns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ, 
ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  XXIV,  36-7. 

"*  E.  Eckhardt,  Die  lustige  Person  im  dlteren  englischen  Drama,  p.  73. 
"»  L.  W.  Cushman,   The  Devil  and  the  Vice  in  the  English  Dramatic  Literature  be- 
fore Shakespeare,  p.  47. 

"'  C.  M.  Gayley,  Representative  English  Comedies,  pp.  xlvii-xlviii. 


58  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

stance,  in  the  Chester  Slaying  of  the  Innocents  a  devil  carries  off 
the  dead  Herod,  warning  his  hearers  as  he  leaves : 

I  will  bringe  this  into  woe, 

and  corae  agayne  and  fetch  moe, 

as  fast  as  ever  I  may  goe."^ 
In  the  Chester  Antichrist  devils  bear  away  the  body  of  the  dead 
Antichrist  to  hell ;  "*  in  the  Towneley  play  of  The  Judgment  devils 
dispose  of  the  damned  in  the  same  way ;  ^^^  in  the  Cornish  Begin- 
ning of  the  World  Satan  and  Beelzebub  carry  off  Abel  and  later 
Adam,  after  their  death ;  ^~^  and  in  the  Castle  of  Perseverance  the 
Bad  Angel  carries  the  soul  of  Humanum  Genus  to  Hell.^'^ 

Such  acts,  then,  were  common;  and  Lucifer  in  Wisdom  seems 
to  be  making  use  of  one  of  the  conventional  features  of  his  pro- 
totypes. In  this  connection,  it  will  be  noted  that  in  1.  549,  just 
before  Lucifer  seizes  the  boy,  he  boasts  that  he  wins  many  a  soul 
to  hell.    This  is  a  suitable  cue  for  his  action. 

To  summarize  our  study  of  Lucifer:  his  "dewyllys  aray"  is 
probably  the  ' '  make-up ' '  that  was .  commonly  worn  by  the  Devil, 
and  his  "prowde  galonte's"  costume  is  similar  to  that  worn  by 
the  Lucifer  of  the  Coventry  Council  of  the  Jews  and  by  Curiosity, 
the  tempter  in  the  Digby  Mary  Magdalene.  His  first  words,  "Owt 
harow,"  and  his  "roaring"  are  conventional  features  of  the  Devil 
in  the  mystery  plays ;  his  account  of  his  expulsion  from  Heaven  and 
of  his  envy  toward  man  is  a  centuries-old  story;  his  arguments  are 
to  be  found  in  the  writings  of  churchmen;  and  his  plan  of  cam- 
paign is  the  one  against  which  the  Church  had  long  warned  her 
members  to  be  on  their  guard.  Finally,  his  manner  of  exit  seems 
to  be  a  reminiscence  of  a  common  feature  of  the  Devil  in  the  mys- 
tery plays.  In  all  these  respects  Lucifer  is  a  conventional  character. 
In  the  use  of  his  arguments,  however,  he  shows  a  skill  which,  so  far 
as  I  know,  is  not  found  in  any  like  character  in  the  mediaeval  reli- 
gious plays.  The  Coventry  Lucifer  also  prides  himself  upon  his 
craftiness ;  but  he  merely  relates  what  he  has  done,  and  consequent- 
ly lacks  the  opportunity  of  showing  his  skill  that  the  actual  repre- 

^T  The  Chester  Plays,   (E.  E.  T.  S.),  p.  203,  !I.  453-5. 
'^^  The  Chester  Plays,   (Shakespeare  Society),  II,  175. 
"»  The  Towneley  Plays,  p.  386,  11.  608  ff. 

120  The  Ancient  Cornish  Drama,  ed.  E.  Norris,  Vol.  I,  p.  43,  11.  553  flf. ;  p.  69,  after 
1.  898. 

i«  The  Macro  Plays,  p.   170,  11.  3123-9. 


Parallel  Ideas  ^  59 

sentation  of  the  "temptation"  scene  gives  to  the  Lucifer  of  Wisdom. 
This  is  the  only  important  respect  in  which  our  author's  concep- 
tion of  Lucifer  is  original. 


For  convenience,  a  number  of  popular  proverbs  which  occur  in' 
different  places  in  the  "temptation"  scene  have  been  reserved  for 
discussion  together: 

In  1.  444,  Lucifer  says,  "Who  clymyt  hye,  hys  fall  gret  ys." 
This  is  such  a  common  proverb  (one  hears  it  even  now)  that  no  ex- 
amples of  its  use  need  be  given.  For  a  number  of  references  see 
V.  S.  Lean,  Collectanea,  English  and  other  Proverbs,  etc.,  Ill, 
487-8. 

In  11.  490-2,  there  are  three  proverbs : 

[LucYFER.]     Ther  ys  a  wolffe  in  a  lombys  skyn. 
Wyix,    Ya!    I  woll  no  more  row  a-geyn  pe  floode; 
I  woll  sett  my  soule  a  mery  pynne. 

With  1.  490,  compare  the  following  from  Respuhlica;  Veritas, 
speaking  of  Avarice,  Oppression,  and  their  companions,  who  are 
masquerading  as  Policy,  Reformation,  etc.,  says : 
But  what  if  these  *  *  *  * 

Have  been  ravenyng  woulves  in  the  clothing  of  sheepe?"* 
In  a  manuscript  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  a  tract 

ascribed  to  Wyclif  has  : 

Crist  biddeth  vs  be  waar  with  thes  fals  prophetis  that  comen  in  clothing 
of  sheepe,  and  ben  wolues  of  rauejjn,  and  thes  ben  specially  men  of  thes  newe 
ordris.^^ 
In  Wisdom,  the  "prechors"  are  the  wolves  (1.  488). 

With  1.  491,  compare  the  following  from  the  Proverbs  of  King 
Alfred  in  a  thirteenth-century  manuscript : 
pus  quad  Alfred: 
Stronge  it  his  to  rogen 
A  gen  J?e  se  flod."* 
A  similar  expression  is  in  Respiiblica;  Adulation  says: 
We  strive  againste  the  streame  all  that  we  doo."^ 
With  1.  492,  compare  the  following  from  Skelton's  The  Boivge 

of  Courte: 

Plucke  vp  thyne  herte  vpon  a  mery  pyne."° 

"2  Respuhlica,  ed.  L.  A.  Magnus,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  XOIV,  p.  45,  11.   1365-6. 

^'^  Apology  for  Lollard  Doctrines,  Camden  Society  Publications,  pp.  x-xi. 

^^*  Reliquiae  Antiquae.  ed.  T.  Wright  and  J.  O.  Halliwell,  I,   174. 

■^Respuhlica,  E.   E.  T.   S.,   p.   47,   1.    1443. 

"'  The  Poetical  Works  of  John  Skelton,  ed.  A.  Dyce,  I,  45,  1.  386. 


60  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

For  some  later  examples  of  the  use  of  "mery  pynne,"  see  Lean's 
Collectanea,  III,  342. 

In  Wisdom,  1.  505,  Lucifer  says : 

Ande  euer  be  mery ;  let  reuell  rowte ! 

Cf.  The  Boivge  of  Courte: 

What  reuell  route!  quod  he,  and  gan  to  rayle,  etc}" 

THIRD  DIVISION:  "LIFE  IN  SIN" 
After  Lucifer  has  left  the  stage,  the  Mights  re-appear,  very  en- 
thusiastic over  their  new  mode  of  life.  Mind  has  given  himself 
up  to  the  sins  of  Pride  (11.  552-9,  576-83,  600-3— these  last  lines 
belong  to  Mind,  although  the  Ms.  does  not  so  indicate)  ;  Under- 
standing, to  the  sins  of  Covetousness  (11.  560-7,  584-91,  604-7)  ; 
and  Will,  to  the  sins  of  Lechery  (11.  568-75,  592-9 — these  belong  to 
Will, — 608-11).  The  scene  that  follows  is  a  satire  on  contem- 
porary social  and  political  corruption  in  England.  I  have  not 
found  any  close  parallels  to  the  phraseology  of  this  scene;  it  seems 
to  be  the  most  original  part  of  the  play.  The  abuses  which 
are  described  are  common  subjects  with  the  satirical  writers  of 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  but  the  manner  of  presenta- 
tion seems  to  be  original.  The  principal  evils  which  are  de- 
scribed are  maintenance  of  evil-doers  by  the  powerful  lords;  per- 
jury, bribery,  and  kindred  practices  in  the  law  courts ;  laxity  in  the 
relations  between  the  sexes ;  and  extravagance  in  dress.  Complaints 
against  these  evils  are  not  confined  to  any  one  period  of  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries,  but  recur  frequently. 

We  shall  first  discuss  these  principal  evils,  and  then  point  out 
parallels  for  some  of  the  details.  The  satire  is  brought  into  con- 
nection with  the  rest  of  the  play  by  identifying  the  Mights  with 
Maintenance,  Perjury,  and  Lechery  (11.  632-876).  This  identifica- 
tion I  have  found  nowhere  else.  Between  the  two  groups  there 
is  little  apparent  logical  connection;  Mind  has  nothing  particular- 
ly to  do  with  Maintenance,  or  Understanding  with  Perjury;  and 
Will  has  no  closer  relationship  with  Lechery,  than  with  any  other 
sin.  Apparently  the  connection  was  made  through  the  common 
relationship  of  the  two  groups  with  the  chief  sins — pride,  covetous- 
ness, and  lechery.  These  sins  are  associated  with  the  Mights  in 
the  "formula"  from  the  Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye  (see  p.  45).    As 

"'  Op.  cit.,  I,  44,  1.  368. 


Parallel  Ideas  61 

regards  the  other  side  of  the  connection,  Pride  might  well  sug- 
gest Maintenance  to  a  man  of  the  fifteenth  century,  for  this  prac- 
tice was  common  among  the  proud  nobles;  Covetousness  might 
suggest  Perjury,  which  enables  a  man,  by  false  lawsuits,  to  steal  the 
property  of  others ;  and  Lechery  is  in  both  groups.  In  other  words, 
Maintenance,  Perjury,  and  Lechery  were  concrete  contemporary 
manifestations  of  these  sins.  The  connection  between  the  Mights 
and  these  three  evil  practices,  made  through  this  intermediate  step, 
is  intelligible. 

No  one  can  read  even  cursorily  the  history  of  England  in  the 
fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  without  realizing  how  wide- 
spread was  the  practice  of  maintenance.^-®  Statute  after  statute 
was  made  to  suppress  this  evil,  but  without  success  until  the  time 
of  Henry  VII,  when  it  was  brought  under  control.  References  to 
maintenance  are  common  in  the  literature  of  this  period.  Cf.  the 
Towneley  Second  Shepherds'  Play,  11.  19-36: 

Thus  thay  refe  vs  oure  reste,  /  Oure  Lady  theym  wary ! 
These  men  that  ar  lord-fest  /  thay  cause  the  ploghe  tary. 
That  men  say  is  for  the  best,  /  we  fynde  it  contrary; 
Thus  ar  husbandys  opprest  /  in  po[i]nte  to  myscary 

On  lyfe. 
Thus  hold  thay  vs  hunder, 
Thus  thay  bryng  vs  in  blonder; 
It  were  greatte  wonder 

And  euer  shuld  we  thryfe. 

fFor  may  he  gett  a  paynt  slefe  /  or  a  broche  now  on  dayes, 
Wo  is  hym  that  hym  gref e  /  or  onys  agane  says ! 
Dar  noman  hym  reprefe,  /  what  mastry  he  mays; 
And  yit  may  noman  lefe  /  oone  word  that  he  says. 

No  letter. 
He  can  make  purveance, 
With  boste  and  bragance, 
And  all  is  thrugh  mantenance 

Of  men  that  ate  gretter."" 

Wyclif  says  that  a  lord  is  called  most  worshipful, 

128  See  W.  Stubbs,  Constitutional  History  of  England,  III,  550  ff . ;  and  J.  F. 
Stephen,  History  of  the  Criminal  Law  of  England,  III,  234  ff. 

'2' J.  M.  Manly,  Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  I,  95;  from  a  manu- 
script of  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  century  (op.  cit.,  p.  13).  This  passage  is  on  p. 
117  of  the  E.  E.  T.  S.  edition  of  the  Towneley  Plays;  another  passage  on  maintenance 
is  in  the  First  Shepherds'  Play  of  the  same  cycle   (E.  E.  T.  S.  edition,  p.  102,  11.  55  ff.) 


62  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Principaly  jif  he  meyntene  his  men  to  bete  pore  men  &  do  wrongis  bi 
loue  dales,  holdynge  &  meyntenynge  of  causes  l>at  rijt  &  lawe  may  not  haue 
his  cours.  &  Jjus  *****  jjei  meyntenen  proude  luciferis  children,  extorsioneris, 
robberies,  &  reuers,  to  distroie  here  pore  neijebores  &  maken  here  hous  a 
den  of  Jjeues.**" 

In  Wisdom  (stage  direction  after  1.  695),  the  six  followers  of 
Maintenance,  or  Mind,  are  "dysgysyde  in  pe  sute  Mynde,"  and 
the  followers  of  Understanding  wear  "hattis  of  meyntenance"  and 
are  dressed  "in  a  sute"  (stage  direction  after  1.  727).  These 
* '  sutes ' '  and  ' '  hattis ' '  suggest  one  of  the  worst  features  of  the  prac- 
tice of  maintenance — the  wearing  of  livery  by  the  retainers  of  a 
lord.  These  retainers  were  quarrelsome  and  insolent,  for  they 
knew  that  the  fear  of  the  powerful  lord  whose  livery  they  wore 
would  prevent  any  retaliation.  In  1377  the  commons  petitioned 
against  "the  gi"\dng  of  hats  by  way  of  livery  for  maintenance:" 
and  in  answer  to  this  petition  justices  were  directed  to  inquire  into 
cases  of  abuse.  At  various  other  times  statutes  were  passed  regu- 
lating the  giving  of  liveries,^ ^^  but  these  statutes  were  not  enforced, 
and  the  evil  continued  into  the  reign  of  Henry  VII.  The  "paynt 
slefe"  and  the  "broche"  mentioned  in  the  selection  quoted  above 
from  the  Second  Shepherds'  Play  are  part  of  a  livery. 

The  corruption  in  the  courts  of  law  was  closely  connected  with 
the  practice  of  maintenance,  inasmuch  as  one  of  the  favorite  meth- 
ods of  the  maintainers  was  to  intimidate  or  bribe  the  judges  and 
juries.     One  of  the  grievances  of  the  Proclamation  made  by  Jacke 

Cade,  written  to  justify  the  rebellion  of  1450,  was  the  following : 

The  law  servyth  of  nowght  ellys  in  thes  days  but  for  to  do  wrong,  for 
nothyng  is  sped  almost  but  false  maters  by  coulour  of  the  law  for  mede,  drede, 
and  favor,  and  so  no  remedy  is  had  in  ye  cowrt  of  conscience  in  eny  wyse."^ 

In  Lydgate's  version  of  ^sop's  Wolf  and  Sheep,  we  find: 

Whan  a  jarrour  hath  caught  savour  ones 

To  be  forsworn,  custom  makith  hym  strong, 

'Si  dedero'  is  now  so  mery  a  song, 

He  hath  a  practis  bi  lawe  to  make  a  preef. 

To  hange  a  triew  man  and  save  an  errant  thief. 

^^  English  Works  of  Wyclif,  ed.  F.  D.  Matthew,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  LXXIV,  243.  See 
also  Eoccleve's  Minor  Poems,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXI,  Pt.  I, 
p.  115;  Piers  Plowman,  (Vol.  I,  p.  86),  B,  III,  245  flE. ;  Richard  the  Bedeless,  III, 
310  e.  {op.  cit.,  I,  624)  ;  etc. 

^^  W.  Stubbs,  Constitutional  History  of  England,  III,  553  ff. 

1^  Three  Fifteenth-Century  Chronicles,  ed.  J.  Gairdner,  for  the  Camden  Society, 
p.  96 ;  concerning  the  authorship  of  the  Proclamation,  see  op.  cit.,  p.  x. 


Parallel  Ideas  63 

With  empty  handis  men  may  no  hawkes  lure. 
Nor  cacche  a  jurrour,  but  if  he  gyf  hym  made. 
The  poore  pletith  what  is  his  aventure, 
Voyde  purse  causith  he  may  nat  spede.^"* 

Line  792  of  Wisdom  implies  that  the  court  at  Westminster  was 
especially  corrupt.  There  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  this  implica- 
tion was  true.     In  A  Ballad  on  Money,  we  find: 

In  Westmynster  hall  the  criers  call. 
The  sergeauntes  plede  apace; 
Attorneys  appere  now  here  now  ther 
Renning  in  every  place. 

Whatesoevery  he  be,  and  yf  that  he 
Whante  money  to  plede  the  lawe. 
Do  whate  he  cane  in  ys  mater  than 
Shale  not  prove  worthe  a  strawe.^" 

Also  in  Mundiis  et  Infans,  11.  575-82 : 

Manhode.    Herke,  felowe!  why  doost  thou  to  Westminster  drawe? 
FoLYE.    For  I  am  a  seruaunt  of  the  lawe; 
Couetous  is  myne  owne  felowe, — 

We  twayne  plete  for  the  kynge; 
And  poore  men  that  come  from  vplande, 
We  wyll  take  theyr  mater  in  hande, — 
Be  it  ryght  or  be  it  wronge, 

Theyr  thryfte  with  vs  shall  wende."^ 
The  court  of  the  Marshalsea  was  another  seat  of  corruption 
( Wisdom,  1.  857 ) .    It  still  retained  its  bad  reputation  in  the  middle 
of  the  next  century.     In  the  Complaynt  of  Roderyck  Mors  it  is 
thus  described : 

The  court  of  the  Marshyalsee,  I  can  neyther  thynck,  speake,  nor  write, 
the  slendernesse  and  vnreasonable  chargys  of  that  court.  If  the  kyng  knewe 
what  boytrye  were  there  vsed,  I  think  he  wold  neuer  suffer  them  more  to  kepe 
court,  or  els  he  wold  loke  otherwyse  vpon  it.  It  is  meruel,  but  only  that  God 
is  mercy ful,  that  fyre  descend  not  down  from  heauen  &  destroye  that  court.^** 

^^  Anglia,  IX,  8,  11.  45-53.  Cf.  also  Lydgate's  Pilgrimage  of  the  Life  of  Man,  ed. 
F.  J.  Furnivall  and  Miss  Locock,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXXVII,  etc.,  p.  487,  II. 
18241  ff. ;  William  Nassington,  Mirrour  of  Life,  in  Ms.  Addit.  22558,  fols.  64  and  70; 
various  fifteenth-century  poems  in  Twenty-six  Political  and  other  Poems,  ed.  J.  Kail, 
E.  E.  T.  S.,  CXXIV,  26,  36,  and  56;  and  Loci  e  libro  veritatum,  extracts  from 
Thomas  Gascoigne's  Theological  Dictionary,  ed.  J.  E.  T.  Rogers,  p.  Ixxxviii. 

"^  Nugae  Poeticae,  ed.  J.  O.  Halliwell,  p.  48.  This  is  a  book  of  selections  illus- 
trating "the  manners  and  arts  of  the  fifteenth  century"    (title  page). 

"'^J.  M.  Manly,  Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shnksperean  Drama,  I,  372.  Cf.  also  Uycke- 
scorner,  11.  217  ff.,  op.  cit.,  I,  393;  a  poem  On  the  Times  (1388),  in  Political  Poems  and 
Songs,  ed.  T.  Wright,    (Rolls  Series),  I,  272-3;  and  Piers  Plowman,  A,  III,  11.  11  ff. 

"»  Henry  Brinklow's  Oomplaynt  of  Roderyck  Mors,  ed.  J.  M.  Oowper,  E.  E.  T.  S., 
Ext.  Ser.,  XXII,  26. 


64  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

In  1.  724  and  again  in  1.  734  of  Wisdom,  the  followers  of  Per- 
jury are  called  the  "quest  of  Holborn."  I  have  found  no  other 
reference  to  the  Holborn  juries.  Collier  suggests  that  this  men- 
tion, in  Wisdom,  "of  the  corruptness  of  the  inquest  of  Holborn 
was,  perhaps,  a  temporary  allusion,  not  now  to  be  explained. ' '  ^^^ 
Mr.  Pollard  thinks  that  the  Holborn  juries  were  notorious  for 
corrupt  verdicts.'^^  This  conjecture  is  probably  correct,  for  the 
Holborn  neighborhood,  some  years  later  than  the  date  oi  Wisdom 
at  least,  had  an  evil  name.  In  Cock  Lor  ell's  Bote,  printed  by 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  the  following  gathering  places  of  prostitutes 
are  named : 

Some  at  saynt  Kateryns  stroke  a  grounde. 
And  many  in  Holborne  were  founde, 
Some  at  Saynt  Gyles,  I  trowe. 
Also  in  Ave  Maria  aly,  and  at  Westmenster."* 

In  Mundus  et  Infans  (11.  572  ff.).  Folly  says: 

Syr,  in  Holborne  I  was  forthe  brought; 
And  with  the  courtyers  I  am  betaught; 
To  Westmynster  I  vsed  to  wende.^*" 
In  Hyckescorner  (11.  662  ff.),  one  of  the  characters,  who  is  seek- 
ing an  opportunity  to  rob  someone,  goes  to  Holborn  as  one  of  the 

places  suitable  for  his  purpose : 

Syrres,  he  walked  thrughe  Holborne 

Thre  houres  after  the  sonne  was  downe, 

And  walked  up  towarde  Saynte  Gyles  in  the  Felde.^" 

These  names  are  evidently  not  chosen  at  random:  Holborn  is 
mentioned  in  all  three  passages,  Westminster  in  two,  and  St. 
Giles  in  two.  They  were  all  places  of  ill-repute,  and  Holborn 
was  the  most  prominent :  Folly  was  born  there ;  many  prostitutes 
lived  there  {some  in  the  other  places  mentioned).  The  reference 
to  the  Holborn  juries,  then,  is  in  keeping  with  the  general  char- 
acter of  the  neighborhood.  One  is  tempted  also  to  see  a  connection 
between  the  corrupt  juries  and  the  open  bribery  and  general  cor- 
ruption prevalent  in  the  Newgate  prison,  which  was  in  that  local- 
ity. In  the  absence  of  any  direct  proof,  however^  such  a  connection 
is  only  a  conjecture. 

"'  J.  p.  Collier,  History  of  English  Dramatic  Poetry,  II,  210. 

"*  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  xxi. 

"»  Quoted  by  Collier,   op.  cit.,  II,   222. 

i"  J.  M.  Manly,  Specimens  of  the  Pre-Shaksperean  Drama,  I,  372. 

"1  Op.  cit.,  I,  408. 


Parallel  Ideas  65 

On  the  subject  of  Lechery  our  author  Jias  much  to  say,  but  noth- 
ing that  is  particularly  significant.  The  satire  would  apply  to 
the  twentieth  century  almost  as  well  as  to  the  fifteenth.  In  1.  770 
he  alludes  to  the  French:  "Hurle  hens  thes  harlottis!  here  gyse 
ys  of  France."  "Thes  harlottis"  are  the  followers  of  Lechery. 
Apparently  the  French  were  noted  in  England  for  their  laxity 
in  matters  of  sexual  morality.  The  same  estimate  of  them  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  Coventry  play,  Joseph's  Return;  Joseph,  when  he 
discovers  that  Mary  is  to  bear  a  child,  thinks  that  she  has  been  un- 
faithful and  fears  that  men  will  say  of  him : 

Olde  cokwold,  thi  bowe  is  bent 

Newly  now  after  the  Frensche  gyse.**^ 

The  satire  on  extravagance  in  dress  does  not  appear  prominently 
in  the  text  of  Wisdom;  various  lines,  however,  suggest  that  the 
Mights  are  dressed  in  the  extreme  of  fashion : 

Mynde.    Lo,  me  here  in  a  new  a-ray  (552) 

[Mynde.]     Me-semyt  myselff  most  lykly  ay,  (556-9) 
It  ys  but  honest;  no  pryde,  no  nay; 
I  wyll  be  freshest,  by  my  fay, 

For  Jjat  a-cordyt  with  my  complexccion. 

Wndurstondynge.    Ande  haue  here  me,  as  fresche  as  yow  (560) 

Mynde.    Curyous  a-ray  I  wyll  euer  hante  (612) 

And  to  these  add  the  following  from  the  Second  Division  of  the 
play: 

[Lucyfer.]     Change  J?at  syde  a-ray!   (510-2) 
Mynde.    I  yt  defye. 
Wndyrstondynge.    We  woU  be  fresche. 

In  a  period  when  fashions  in  dress  offered  so  many  points  for 
ridicule  as  they  did  in  the  fifteenth  century,  no  satirical  writer, 
given  a  situation  and  characters  like  those  in  Wisdom,  would  neg- 
lect this  opportunity  for  raising  a  laugh  in  the  audience.  We  may 
assume,  therefore,  that  the  costumes  of  the  Mights  were  exagger- 
ated copies  of  contemporary  dress.  Lucifer,  as  we  have  seen  (p. 
46),  was  probably  dressed  in  similar  manner. 

Satire  on  extravagance  in  dress  was  common  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury.    Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  costume  of  the 

i*3LwdM«  Ooventriae,  p.   118. 


66  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Lucifer  of  the  Coventry  Council  of  the  Jews  (p.  46).  In  the  Boy 
Bishop's  Sermon  delivered  at  St.  Paul's  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII, 
which  Dibdin  says  must  have  been  printed  before  1496/*^  the  fol- 
lowing complaint  is  made : 

There  is  no  vanyte  in  no  partye  of  the  worlde  but  we  bene  redy  to  bye 
it:  longe  heres  and  shorte  collers  of  Almayns;  evyll  fasshenyd  garmentes  and 
devyllisshe  shoone  and  slyppers  of  Frensmen;  powches  and  paynted  gyrdylles 
of  Spaynardes;  newe  founde  hattes  of  Romayns.^" 

A  typical  description  is  the  following  from  a  Ballad  against 
Excess  in  Apparel,  Especially  in  the  Clergy,  which  was  probably 
written  not  later  than  1467 :  "^ 

Ye  prowd  galantts  hertlesse. 
With  your  hygh  cappis  witlesse, 
And  your  schort  gownys  thriftlesse, 
Have  brought  this  lond  in  gret  hevynesse. 

With  your  long  peked  shone, 
Therfore  your  thrifte  is  almost  don; 
And  your  longe  here  into  your  eyen, 
Have  brought  this  lond  to  gret  pyne. 

Ye  poope  holy  prestis  full  of  presomcion, 
With  your  wyde  fueryd  hodes,  voyd  of  discrecion; 
Un  to  your  owyn  prechyng  of  contrary  condition, 
Whech  causeth  the  people  to  have  lesse  devocion. 

Avauncid  by  symony  in  cetees  and  townys; 

Make  shorter  your  taylis,  and  broder  your  crownys, 

Leve  your  short  stuffede  dowblettes  and  your  pleytid  gownys. 

And  kepe  your  owyn  howsjTig,  and  passe  not  your  boundis.^** 

These  are  only  two  of  the  many  similar  passages  which  might  be 
cited.  The  general  tone  is  the  same  in  all;  extravagance  in  dress 
is  a  besetting  sin,  not  .only  of  the  courtiers  and  dandies,  but  also 
of  the  men  of  religion. ^*^ 

A  quotation  from  the  Speculum  Chris fianorum,  fol.  35  b,  will 
give  a  fitting  conclusion  to  our  general  discussion  of  the  political 

and  social  satire  in   Wisdom: 

• 

^**  The  Camden  Miscellany,  VII,  xxxv   (Camden  Society  Publications,   1875). 
1"  Op.  cit.,  p.  10. 

»*=  Percy  Society  Publications,  XXVII,  55. 
!«  Op.  cit.,  se-Ti. 

'*'  On  the  dress  of  the  clergy  see  E.  L.  Cutts,  Parish  Priests  and  their  People,  pp. 
164  ff. 


Parallel  Ideas  67 

Peccata  britonum.  Negligentia  prelatorum  /  rapina  potentum  /  cupiditas 
iudicum  /  rabies  periuriorum  /  inordinatus  cultus  vestimentorum  /  detestanda 
luxuria  /    omne  peccatum  publicum  &  notorium  clamat  vindictam  ad  deum.^** 


We  are  now  ready  to  examine  parallels  for  the  ideas  in  special 
passages  of  this  part  of  the  play : 

In  Wisdom,  11.  556-7,  ]\Iind,  now  identified  with  Pride,  says : 

Me-semyt  myselif  most  lykly  ay, 

It  ys  but  honest;  no  pryde,  no  nay. 

Also,  in  11.  604-7,  Understanding,  identified  with  Covetousness,^  says : 
The  ryche  couetyse,  wo  dare  blame, 
Off  govell  &  symony  thow  he  bere  pe  name? 
To  be  fals,  men  report  yt  game; 
Yt  ys  clepyde  wysdom. 

The  same  disguising  of  "pride"  under  the  name  of  "honesty," 
and  of  " covetousness "  under  that  of  "wisdom,"  occurs  in  the 
Coventry  Council  of  the  Jews;  Lucifer  says  to  his  followers : 
I  have  browth  jow  newe  namys,  and  wyl  je  se  why 
flFor  synne  is  so  plesaunt  to  eche  mannys  intent, 
36  xal  kalle  pride  oneste,  and  nateralle  kend  lechory, 
And  covetyse  wysdam  there  tresure  is  present."® 

The  general  device  of  giving  inoffensive  names  to  various  sins 
and  follies  is  used  frequently,  especially  in  later  plays.  For  in- 
stance, in  Skelton's  Magnyfycence,  Crafty  Conveyance  becomes 
Sure  Surveyance  (1.  525)  ;  Counterfeit  Countenance,  Good  De- 
meanance  (1.  674)  ;  and  Cloaked  Collusion,  Sober  Sadness  (1. 
681).  Cf.  also  Respuhlica,  in  which  Insolence  is  called  Authority; 
Oppression,  Reformation;  Adulation,  Honesty;  and  Avarice,  Pol- 
jgy  150  rpj^g  j^g^  ^^Q  pairs  are  practically  the  same  as  Pride- 
Honesty  and  Covetousness-Wisdom  of  the  Coventry  Council  and 
Wisdom.  This  disguising  goes  back  to  the  Psychomachia  of  Pru- 
dentius  (I  owe  this  suggestion  to  Professor  A.  H.  Tolman). 


In  line  569  of  Wisdom,  Will  says: 

I  am  so  lykynge;  me  seme  I  fle. 

^*B  Speculum  Chriatianorum,  Paris,  1502  (British  Museum  press  mark,  1361.  a.  5 
(2)  ).  The  Museum  catalogue  gives  as  the  author,  "Joannes  Watton."  Except  for  the 
omission  of  some  passages  in  English,  this  work  seems  to  be  the  same  as  the  Speculum 
Chriitiani,  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  first  book  printed  in  London. 

"*  Ludus  Coventriae,  p.  243. 

^ Beapublica,  in  Brandl's  Quellen,  p.  298.  (In  the  E.  E.  T.  S.  edition  of  Respuh- 
lica, the  reference  is  p.  13,  11.  375  ff.). 


68  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Cf.  Skelton's  Magnyfycence,  11.  839-41: 
Me  seme  I  flye, 
I  am  so  lyght 
To  daunce  delyght. 


In  Wisdom,  11.  576-83,  Mind  says : 

Ande  thes  ben  my  syngler  solace; 

Kynde  fortune  &  grace, 

Kynde  nobyll  of  kynrede,  me  ioy  yovyn  base, 

Ande  Jjat  makyt  me  so-leyn. 

Fortune  in  worldis  worscbyppe  me  doth  lace; 

Grace  yewyt  curryus  eloquens,  &  ]>at  mase 

[ ] 

Tbat  all  on-cunnynge  I  dysdeyn. 

The  third  line  in  this  selection,  copied  from  the  E.  E.  T.  S.  edi- 
tion of  the  Macro  Plays,  does  not  give  the  correct  meaning.  In 
the  second  line  Mind  enumerates  his  three  "solaces;"  then  in  the 
following  lines  he  tells  what  each  of  these  brings  him.  Kind, 
that  is,  Nature,  gives  him  noble  kindred;  Fortune,  worldly  honor; 
and  Grace,  "curryus"  eloquence.  The  Macro  Ms.  gives  the  idea 
correctly:  "Kynde  nobyll  of  kynrede  me  yewyn  base."  The  sec- 
ond and  third  lines  should  therefore  read: 

Kynde,  fortune,  &  grace; 

Kynde,  nobyll  of  kynrede  me  yewyn  base. 

This,  the  reading  of  the  Macro  Ms.,  is  the  one  that  we  expect 
from,  the  parallels  given  below.'  In  the  comparison  of  the  play  with 
these  parallels,  it  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  former.  Mind,  to 
whom  these  "solaces"  belong,  is  identified  with  Pride. 

Cf.  Chaucer's  Parson's  Tale,  11.  450  f f . : 

Somtyme  it   [pride]    spryngeth  of  the  goodes  of  nature,  and  somtyme  of 
the  goodes  of  fortune,  and  somtyme  of  the  goodes  of  grace. 
The  Cursor  Mundi  has : 

[Pride  springs]  of  werldis  happe,  of  grace,  of  kinde."' 
Finally,  according  to  the  Ayenbite  of  Inwyt : 

[We  have  no  gifts  but  those  God  has  given  us],  ne  guodes  of  kende:  ase 
uayrhede.  and  helj?e.  an  streng]?e  of  bodye.  *  *  *  ne  guodes  of  auenture.  ase 
richesses.  worssipe.  and  bejnesse.  ne  guodes  of  grace,  ase  Jbyjj  uirtues.  and 
guode  workes. 

This  passage  is  a  part  of  the  discussion  of  Pride,  and  in  a  longer 

account   a   few   pages   further   on   in   the   same   work,   the   three 

«>  Cursor  Mundi,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  1526,  U.  27558  flf. 


Paeallel  Ideas  69 

"guodes"  are  represented  as  the  three  small  ''boughs"  of  Vanity, 
which,  in  turn,  is  a  bough  of  Pride.^"- 


In  Wisdom,  11.  620-3,  the  Mights  form  a  trio,  and  sing : 
Mynde.    a  tenowur  to  yow  bothe  I  brynge; 
Wndykstondynge.    And  I  a  mene,  for  ony  kynge; 
Wyll.    And,  but  a  trebnll  I  owt  wrynge, 

the  deuell  hj-m  spede,  pat  myrthe  exyled !    [Et  cantent. 

A  similar  trio  appears  in  the  Towneley  Second  Shepherds'  Play 

I.  Pastor.     Lett  me  syng  the  tenory. 

II.  Pastor.     And  I  the  tryble  so  hye. 

III.  Pastor.     Then  the  meyne  fallys  to  me; 

Lett  se  how  ye  chauntt.^^ 


In  Wisdom,  1.  721,  we  find: 

Jorowur,  in  on  hoode  berith  to  facis. 
This  is  a  common  proverb;  cf.  Skel ton's  Magnyfycence: 
Two  faces  in  a  hode  couertly  I  bere.^" 


In  Wisdom,  11.  772-7,  the  IVIiglits  are  fighting : 

Wndyrstondynge.     Ill  spede  l»ee,  ande  J>ou  spare  1 
Jji  longe  body  bare. 
To  bett  I  not  spare; 

Haue  the  a-geyn ! 
Wyll.     Holde  me  not^  let  me  go  ware!  * 

I  dynge,  I  dasche!   J^er,  go  ther! 
This  description  of  the  fight  of  the  Mights  is  conventional  in  phras- 
eology.    In  the  Chester  play  of  The  Passioyi,  the  First  Jew,  who 

is  tormenting  Jesus,  says : 

On  thy  bodye  bare 

Strockes  shalte  thou  beare.^^ 
The  following  passages  are  all  from  the  Towneley  plays:    In  The 
Scourging,  after  Jesus  has  been  stripped,  he  is  scourged ;  the  First 
Torturer  says: 

ii»4j/enbite  of  Inwyt,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  pp.  18  and  23-4.  See  also  Richard  RoUe  of 
Eampole,  I,  224;  and  Lydgate's  poem  on  the  entry  of  Henry  VI  into  London  after  his 
coronation  in  France,  in  Percy  Society  Publications,  II,  6-8. 

i"J.  M.  Manly,  Specimens  of  the  Pre-fihaksperean  Drama,  I,  100.  (The  Towne- 
ley Plays,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  122,  U.  186-9). 

^^Magnyfycence,  E.  E.  T.  S..  p.  23,  1.  710.  See  also  the  Bowge  of  Courte,  in  the 
Poetical  Works  of  John  Skelton,  ed.  A.  Dyce,  I,.  46,  1.  428;  and  Anglia,  XXVI,  203 
and  266. 

^^  The  Chester  Plays,  II,  46   (Shakespeare  Society). 


70  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

To  bett  his  body  bar 
I  haste,  withoutten  hoyne.'" 
In  Herod  the  Great,  a  woman  attacks  a  soldier  who  has  killed 

her  child : 

Haue  at  the,  say  I !  /  take  the  ther  a  f oyn ! 

Out  on  the  I  cry  /  haue  at  thi  groyn 

An  othere !  '^ 
In  Noah  and  the  Ark,  Noah,  who  is  fighting  with  his  wife,  says : 

Haue  at  the,  gill ! »"' 

In  the  play  of  Abraham,  Abraham,  about  to  slay  Isaac,  is  stopped 

by  an  angel,  who  seizes  him ;  Abraham  exclaims : 

War!  let  the  go.^"*    [The  editor  suggests  me  for  the.'\ 

Finally,  in  The  Scourging,  the  Third  Torturer  says: 
Do,  dyng  hym."° 

FOURTH   DIVISION:    "REPENTANCE" 

The  fourth  division  of  the  play  deals  with  the  regeneration  of 
the  Mights.  A  considerable  part  of  the  material  in  this  division 
has  already  been  discussed  under  "Sources."     In  addition,  there 

are  a  number  of  ideas  for  which  parallels  are  at  hand. 

Wisdom,  11.  877-8: 

Wysdom.     O  thou  Mynde,  remembyr  thee ! 
Turne  ]>\  weys!   Jjou  gost  a-myse! 
Cf.   Goddis  Owne  Complaynt,  from  Lambeth  Ms.   853,  of  about 
1430: 

Turne  to  me !  bi]?inke  J>ee  how 

pou  hast  goon  mys  !   come  hoom  ageyne !  "^ 


Wisdom,  11.  881-2: 

They  J?at  lyue  well,  pey  xall  haue  blys; 
■    Thay  J?at  endyn  yll,  ]>ej  goo  to  hell. 
Cf.  the  poem,  I  Wite  My  Silf  Myn  Owne  Woo,  from  Lambeth  Ms. 
853,  of  about  1430 : 

If  Jjou  doist  weel,  ]>ou  goist  to  blis; 
If  J)ou  do  yuel,  Jjou  goost  to  J^i  foo."^ 

««  The  Towneley  Plays,  p.  247,  11.  132-3. 

1K7  Op.  cit.,  p.   177,  11.   381-3. 

i=s  Op  cit.,  p.  29,  !.  219. 

IBS  Op.  cit.,  p.  48,  1.  258. 

^^  Op.  cit.,  p.  248,  1.  149. 

">  Political,  Religious,  and  Love  Poems,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  XV,  p. 
193,  11.  53-4. 

^«^  Hymns  to  the  Virgin  and  Christ,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  XXIV,  p.  39, 
11.   133-4. 


Parallel  Ideas  71 

These  lines  are  a  paraphrase  of  a  sentence  in  the  Athanasian 
Creed:  "Et  qui  bona  egerunt,  ibunt  in  vitam  eternam;  qui  vero 
mala,  in  ignem  eternum." 


In  Wisdom,  as  a  proof  of  the  plight  into  which  the  Mights,  by 

their  sins,  have  brought  the  Soul,  Anima  appears  on  the  stage 

dressed,  not  in  the  white  robes  which  she  wore  at  the  beginning  of 

the  play,  but  in  a  "horrybyll  mantyll,"  in  the  "most  horrybuU 

wyse,  fowlere  pSLB.  a  fende."     From  beneath  the  mantle  run  out 

"vi  small  boys  in  pe  lyknes  of  Dewyllys,  &  so  retorne  a-geyn" 

(stage  directions  after  11.   906  and  916).      (The  number  should 

be  vii  instead  of  vi,  for  according  to  11.  913-4 : 

As  many  dedly  synnys  as  ye  haue  vsyde, 
So  many  deullys  in  yowur  soule  be. 

Evidently,  the  Mights  have  used  all  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins — not 
one  has  been  slighted.  The  mistake  in  the  number  is  easily  ex- 
plained. The  number  "six"  is  given  in  only  one  place,  and  there 
it  is  the  Roman  numeral  "vi."  The  scribe  carelessly  omitted  the 
second  "i").  The  Mights  are  terrified  at  the  horrible  plight  into 
which  they  have  brought  the  soul,  and  they  repent.  Thereupon 
the  seven  small  devils  withdraw  (stage  direction  after  1,  982). 

This  scene  of  the  devoiding  of  the  devils  from  Anima  is  similar  to 
the  one  in  the  Digby  Mary  Magdalene  play  in  which  the  seven 
devils  are  cast  out  of  Mary.  After  she  has  been  seduced  by 
Curiosity,  "Mari  xal  entyr  In-to  J?e  place  alone,  save  J^e  bad 
angyl  and  al  ]?e  seuen  dedly  synnes  xal  be  conveyyd  in-to  J?e  howse 
of  syitiont  leprovs,  ]?ey  xal  be  a-rayyd  lyke  vij  dylf."^*^^  Later, 
Jesus  and  his  disciples  come  to  the  house  of  Simon.  Mary,  who  in 
the  meantime  has  repented,  enters  -and  asks  Christ 's  forgiveness. 
Christ  says : 

Woman,  in  contrysson  J)ou  art  expert, 

thy  feyth  hath  savyt  pe,  and  made  J>e  bryth; 
Wherfor  I  sey  to  pe,  'vade  In  pace.' 

[With  J?is  word  vij  dyllys  xall  de-woyde  frome  pe  woman, 
and  the  bad  angyll  enter  into  hell  with  thondyr.]  i" 

Here  we  have  the  Seven   Deadly  Sins,  dressed  as  seven  devils, 

^'^  The  Digby  Plays,  p.  76,  stage  direction  after  1.  563. 
>"  Op.  cit.,  p.  81,  11.  686-91. 


72  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

appearing  as  characters  on  the  stage  and  devoiding  from  Mary,^^' 
just  as  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins,  dressed  as  small  devils,  appear  and 
devoid  in  Wisdom. 

In  the  Coventry  play,  The  Last  Supper,  while  Jesus  and  his 
disciples  are  at  Simon's  house,  Mary  enters  weeping  over  her  sins, 
and  asks  forgiveness ;  Christ  says  to  her : 

Alle  thi  prayour  I  xal  fulfylle, 

************ 

And  fro  vlj.  develys  I  xal  the  ffende, — 
ffendys,  flethe  jour  weye ! 
Wyckyd  spyritys,  I  jou  conjowre, 
fflethe  out  of  hire  bodyly  bowre. 
Mary  answers : 

I  thanke  the,  Lorde,  of  this  grett  grace; 
Now  these  vij.  ffendys  be  fro  me  fflytt."* 

There  is  no  direct  statement  that  the  "flitting"  of  the  devils  was 
actually  represented  on  the  stage ;  but  Christ 's  direct  address  to 
the  devils,  and  Mary's  reference  to  "these  vij.  ffendys"  indicate  that 
they  were  actually  present. 

We  have,  then,  in  the  mystery  plays  two  scenes  in  which  the 
devils  are  cast  out  of  Mary  Magdalene ;  in  one  of  them  the  de- 
voiding  is  certainly  represented  by  actual  characters  on  the  stage; 
in  the  other,  it  probably  was  so  represented.  Knowing  our  author 's 
fondness  for  borrowing  ideas,  we  suspect  that  he  had  some  such 
scene  as  these  in  mind  when  he  represented  the  devoiding  of  the 
devils  from  Anima. 


Wisdom,  II.  917-20: 

Wysdam.    What  haue  I  do?  why  lowyste  ]?ou  not  me? 

Why  cherysyste  J>i  enmye?    Why  hatyst  J>ou  J?i  frende? 
Myght  I  haue  don  ony  more  for  t)ee? 

But  loue  may  brynge  drede  to  mynde. 

Wisdom,  II.  925-8: 

Wy  doyst  ]?ou,  soule,  me  all  dyspyght? 

Why  yewyst  J'ou  myn  enmy  J^at  I  haue  wrought? 
Why  werkyst  J»ou  hys  consell?  by  myn  settis  lyght? 

Why  hatyst  Ijou  vertu?  why  louyst  I^at  ys  nought? 

**^  See  W.  Creizenach,  Geschichte  des  neueren  Dramas,  I,  194 :  mediaeval  theolo- 
gians taught  that  the  woman  out  of  whom  the  seven  devils  were  cast  was  Mary,  and 
that  these  devils  were  the  Seven  Deadly  Sins. 

1™  Ludus  Coventriae,  p.  264. 


Parallel  Ideas  73 

With  these  lines  compare  the  follo"\ving  from  Goddis  Owne  Com- 
playnt,  in  Lambeth  Ms.  853,  of  about  1430: 

Complaynt,  11.  9-12  [Christ  is  speaking  to  man] : 
Haue  y  not  doon  al  ]>at  me  oujt? 

Haue  Y  l^^t  ony  t>yng  bihynde? 
Whi  \vraj>]7ist  }7ou  me?  y  greue  ]5ee  nou3t; 
Whi  art  J)ou  to  J^i  freend  vnkinde? 

Complaynt,  11.  49-50: 
O  Man,  y  loue  Jjee!   whom  louest  J>ou? 
I  am  J>i  freend;  whi  wolt  J>ou  feyne? 

Complaynt,  U.  61-2: 

Of  a  freend  the  first [e]  preef 

Is  loue  wij>  drede,  &  noujt  displese. 

Complaynt,  11.  139-40: 

What  haue  y  trespasid  vnto  ]7ee 

t>at  Jjou  forsakist  me,  &  seruest  sathan?-*" 

Similar  complaints  of  man's  ingratitude  are  of  common  occur- 
rence.^'^ None  of  those  that  I  have  found  is  sufficiently  like  the 
lines  of  Wisdom  in  phraseology  to  be  called  their  direct  source;  it 
is  probable,  however,  that  our  author  used  some  undiscovered  ver- 
sion and  followed  it  closely. 


Wisdom,  11.  977-80: 

By  wndyrstondynge,  haue  very  contrycion; 

With  mynde  of  your  synne,  confessyon  make, 
Wyt  wyll  yeldynge  du  satysf accion ; 

J7an  yowur  soule  be  dene,  I  wndyrtake. 

Penance  was  commonly  divided  into  the  three  steps — contrition, 
confession,  and  satisfaction.  Neander  says  that  this  division  was 
"determined  by  Peter  of  Lombardy. "  ^®^  According  to  the  latter 
(Quatuor  libri  sententiarum,  Lib.  IV,  Dist.  xvi)  : 

In  perfectione  autem  poenitentiae,  tria  obseruanda  sunt,  scilicet,  com- 
punctio  cordis,  confessio  oris,  satisfactio  operis. 

^"^"^  Political,  Religious,  and  Love  Poems,  ed.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  E.  B.  T.  S.,  pp.  191  ff. 
This  same  poem,  with  some  variations,  is  found  in  Lambeth  Ms.  306  (printed  by  Furni- 
vall, op.  cit.,  190  ff. ).  and  in  Ms.  Douce  78,  fol.  5. 

"8  Of.  poems  of  William  Lichfield,  in  Ms.  Gonville  and  Caius  Coll.  174,  fol.  469; 
Twenty-six  Political  and  other  Poems,  ed.  J.  Kail,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  42,  11.  57  ff;  Richard 
Rolle  of  Eampole,  I,   71  and  88. 

iM  A.  Neander,  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church,  trans.  J.  Torrey,  IV, 
347. 


74  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  "Wisdom 

These  three  are  necessary,  he  thinks,  because  man  sins  in  "corde," 
"ore,"  and  "opere,"  In  the  Cursor  Mundi  they  are  said  to  be 
necessary  because  man  sins  in  thought,  word,  and  deed.^^''  In  the 
Assembly  of  Gods,  a  different  order  is  given — confession,  contri- 
tion, and  satisfaction.^'^ 

It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  lines  from  Wisdom  quoted  above  we 
have  only  an  outline  or  enumeration  of  the  parts  of  penance;  the 
discussion  of  these  extends  from  1.  981  to  1.  1068.  The  most  in- 
teresting part  of  this  discussion  is  the  passage  relating  to  the 
"Nine  Points  Pleasing  to  God"  (11.  1001-68),  the  source  of  which 
was  given  on  p.  34.  This  passage  describes  the  kind  of  "satisfac- 
tion" that  is  most  acceptable  to  God,  and  is  interesting  because  it 
emphasizes  the  value  of  love  of  God  and  charity  to  one's  neighbors, 
and  minimizes  the  importance  of  fasting,  making  of  pilgrimages, 
scourging  of  the  body,  and  like  practices,  which  occupied  a  very 
important  place  in  the  mediaeval  religious  life.  So  large  a  place 
did  they  occupy,  that  this  view,  as  expressed  by  a  writer  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  seems  on  first  thought  to  be  unorthodox;  but,  in 
fact,  it  was  not.  In  considering  the  attitude  of  the  Church  on 
the  subject  of  penance,  says  Neander,  "We  must  take  care  to  dis- 
tinguish the  false  representations  of  the  church-doctrine,  which 
were  encouraged  by  ignorant  and  badly-disposed  preachers,  from 
that  doctrine  as  it  was  taught  in  the  schools  of  theology.  ***** 
The  church  doctrine  and  scientific  theology  were  very  far  from  at- 
tributing any  important  influence  to  the  external  act  separated 
from  the  internal  disposition.  *****  The  blame  lies  with  the 
ordinary  priests,  that  this  connection  betM^een  the  inward  temper 
and  outward  act,  in  the  religious  sense  of  the  multitude,  was  ob- 
scured, and  that  the  people  were  confirmed  in  the  delusive  notion 
that  forgiveness  of  sin  could  be  obtained  by  outward  works.  "^^^  The 

"0  Cursor  Mundi,  ed.  R.  Morris,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  p.  1480,  11.  25932  flf. 

"i  Assembly  of  Gods,  ed.  O.  L.  Triggs,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXIX,  11.  1142  ff. 
See  also  a  list  of  references  in  a  note,  op.  cit.,  p.  86.  Other  references  to  English  works 
are:  Works  of  John  Fisher,  ed.  J.  E.  B.  Mayor,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  pp.  24,  37,  and  151; 
Poems  of  William  of  Shoreham,  ed.  M.  Konrath,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  Ext.  Ser.,  LXXXVI,  p. 
31,  II.  846  ff. ;  Lay  Folks'  Catechism,  ed.  Canon  Simmons  and  H.  E.  Nolloth,  E.  E.  T.  S., 
CXVIII,  p.  66,  11.  310  ff.  Cf.  the  discussion  of  these  three  steps  as  they  appear  in 
Everyman,  by  P.  A.  Wood,  in  Modern  Philology,  Oct.  1910,  pp.  283  ff.,  article  on 
Elckerlijc-E  very  man :    The  Question  of  Priority. 

"2  A.  Neander,  History  of  the  Christian  Religion  and  Church,  trans.  J.  Torrey, 
IV,  347-8. 


Parallel  Ideas  75 

Church  sanctioned  this  outward  penance  as  good  in  its  place;  and 
the  author  of  Wisdom  does  not  deny  that  it  may  be  of  value.  He 
merely  shifts  the  emphasis  from  the  outward  works,  where  it  was 
popularly  placed,  to  the  inner  attitude  of  the  heart,  where  the 
Church  taught  that  it  should  be  placed.  This  shifting  of  emphasis 
was  particularly  characteristic  of  the  mystics,  who  stood  for  a 
personal  and  intimate  relationship  with  God.  The  basis  of  the 
idea  is  found  in  Mark  XII,  30,  31,  and  33 :  Christ  said  to  the 
scribe,  "And  thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy 
strength;  this  is  the  first  commandment.  And  the  second  is  like, 
namely  this.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself.  There  is 
none  other  commandment  greater  than  these."  The  scribe  an- 
swered, "And  to  love  him  with  all  the  heart,  and  with  all  the 
understanding,  and  with  all  the  soul,  and  with  all  the  strength,  and 
to  love  his  neighbor  as  himself,  is  more  than  all  whole  burnt  offer- 
ings and  sacrifices." 


Wisdom,  11.  1087-93: 

Wysdom.    Vulnerasti  cor  meum,  soror,  mea  sponsa, 

In  vno  ictu  oculorum  tuorum. 
Ye  haue  wondyde  my  hert,  systur,  spowse  dere, 

In  pe  tweyn  syghtys  of  yowur  ey. 
By  pe  recognycion  ye  haue  clere, 

Ande  by  pe  hye  lowe  ye  haue  godly, 

It  perrysschyt  my  hert  to  here  yow  crye. 

Compare  with  these  lines  a  passage  from  the  Tractatus  de  Chari- 
tate,  by  an  anonymous  writer,  which  consists  largely  of  extracts 
from  the  works  of  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  Peter  Blessensis,  etc. : 

'Vulnerasti  cor  meum  in  uno  oculorum  tuorum.'  Duos  nempe  oculos 
habet  anima.  ******  Et  horum  duorum  dexter  oculus  est  amor.  ***** 
Sublato  enim  amore,  qui  dexter  est  oculus,  ad  solum  errorem  remanet  intel- 
lectus,  quern  sinistrum  diximus.  *******  Videtur  itaque  ab  amantibus 
Deus  utroque  oculo,  sed  altero  vulneratur,  quando  ubi  intellectus  caligat,  amor 
penetrat;  ubi  ille  repcllitur,  iste  admittitur.*''  (In  some  cases  in  this  quota- 
tion, a  number  of  lines  have  been  omitted  between  extracts.  The  passage  is 
too  long  to  be  quoted  fully  enough  to  give  a  connected  reading). 
Also,  in  the  first  draft  of  a  speech  prepared  by  the  Lord  Chancellor, 
John  Russell,  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  for  the  opening  of  the  parliament 
of  Richard  III,  we  find : 

MSMigne,  Pat.  Lot.,  torn.  184,  col.  592. 


76  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

Oculus  igitur  est  geminus,  there  be  allewey  ij.  ies,  seyth  Lincoln  [R. 
Grosseteste],  yn  hys  tretie  de  oculo  morali,  quorum  dexter  est  intellectus,  sin- 
ister aflFectus.    The  ryghte  ie  ys  undrestondynge,  the  left  ye  ys  aifeocion."* 

The  translation  of  the  Latin  phrase  "in  vno  ictu  oculorum 
tuorum,"  in  Wisdom,  by  "in  pe  tweyn  syghtys  of  yowur  ey"  is 
unintelligible  as  it  stands;  and  the  connection  between  this  trans- 
lation and  the  two  following  lines,  with  their  reference  to  "recog- 
nycion"  and  "lowe,"  is  not  clear.  The  passages  from  the 
Tractatus  and  Russell's  speech  give  the  key  to  the  translation  and 
the  meaning.  The  Latin  tract  has  "in  uno  oculorum  tuorum," 
which  is  also  the  reading  of  the  Vulgate  {Cant.  Cant.  IV,  9),  and  it 
explains  the  phrase  as  referring  to  the  two  eyes  of  the  soul:  "in- 
tellectus" and  "amor."  Russell  also  gives  these  two  eyes  as 
"understanding"  and  "affection."  It  would  seem  that  when  the 
author  of  Wisdom  translated  the  Latin,  "in  vno  ictu  oculorum 
tuorum,"  by  "in  pe  tweyn  syghtys  of  yowur  ey,"  he  had  in  mind 
the  more  common  Vulgate  reading,  "in  uno  oculorum  tuorum," 
and  the  current  interpretation  of  it  as  referring  to  the  two  eyes 
of  the  soul.  Thus  the  "recognycion  ye  haue  clere"  of  1.  1091 
evidently  refers  to  the  reason  or  understanding;  and  the  "hye 
lowe  ye  haue  godly"  of  I.  1092  is  love  or  affection:  But  this  does 
not  explain  the  change  from  "in  ^lno  oculorum  tuorum"  to  "in 
pe  tweyn  syghtys."  The  change  was  necessary  in  order  to  make 
this  passage  fit  in  with  the  preceding  parts  of  the  play.  In  11. 
1077-80,  Anima  says : 

In  twayn  myghtys  of  my  soule  I  the  offendyde : 

The  on,  by  my  Inwarde  wyttys,  thow  ben  gostly; 

J>e  other,  by  my  outwarde  wyttys  comprehendyde, 
Tho  be  ])e  v  wyttys  bodyly. 

These  "twayn  myghtys"  are  evidently  the  reason  and  sensuality 
of  11.  135-148.  There,  the  five  outward  wits  are  said  to  be  the  ser- 
vants of  sensuality;  the  five  inwits  are  not  mentioned,  but  by 
implication  they  are  connected  with  reason,  the  other  part  of  the 
soul,  and  a  few  lines  later  they  are  brought  on  the  stage  as  the 
prudent  virgins  of  the  soul's  realm  within.  Hence,  11.  1077-80 
mean  that  the  soul  has  offended  in  both  reason  and  sensuality. 
In  11.  1087-93,  these  are  identified  with  the  two  eyes  of  the  soul — 

"*  Grants  of  King  Edward  the  Fifth,  ed.  J.  G.  Nichols  (Camden  Society  Publica- 
tions, 1854),  p.  Iv. 


Parallel  Ideas  77 

understanding  and  love  ^^^ — and  for  the  wounding  in  one  of  the 
eyes,  which  would  give  the  correct  meaning  of  the  Latin,  "in  uno 
oeulorum  tuorum,"  our  author  substitutes  the  "tweyn  syghtys," 
in  both  of  which  the  Mights  have  certainly  sinned. 


This  concludes  our  examination  of  the  sources  and  pg,rallels  for 
the  play  of  Wisdom.  No  doubt  if  we  had  before  us  the  whole 
body  of  literature  with  which  our  author  was  acquainted,  we 
should  find  others.  The  number  which  we  have  gathered,  however, 
is  sufficient  to  show  his  method  of  work.  He  cannot  be  called  an 
original  writer;  originality,  indeed,  was  not  a  mediaeval  virtue. 
He  took  passages  from  various  writers,  sometimes  almost  word  for 
word;  cast  this  borrowed  material  into  the  chosen  verse  form; 
added  connecting  links  and,  perhaps,  a  little  original  material, 
together  with  his  own  statements  of  conventional  ideas — and  he 
had  a  play.  And  yet  it  may  be  that  we  are  giving  him  too  little 
credit.  The  political  and  social  satire  in  the  third  division  is  much 
more  spirited  and  interesting  than  the  other  parts  of  the  play. 
This  superiority  is,  no  doubt,  partly  due  to  tlie  subject  matter, 
which  is  better  suited  to  dramatic  treatment  than  is  the  abstract 
theological  material  in  the  first  and  fourth  divisions.  It  will  be 
remembered,  however,  that  we  have  found  no  direct  source  for 
this  satirical  passage.  It  may  be,  then,  that  this  division  is  original 
with  our  author,  and  that  its  superiority  is  also  in  part  due  to 
the  fact  that  he  is  treating  his  own  material  in  his  own  way. 

1'"' Intellectus    (understanding)     and    ratio     (reason)    are    sometimes    used    synonym- 
ously (see  p.  43). 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  PLAY 

"We  are  now  ready  to  discuss  the  purpose  of  Wisdom.  The 
first  division  contains  a  conventional  account  of  the  soul  and 
its  Mights;  the  fourth  deals  with  the  plan  of  salvation  prescribed 
by  the  Church.  So  far  as  these  two  divisions  are  concerned,  the 
play  might  have  been  written  for  the  religious  edification  of  man- 
kind in  general.  The  second  and  third  divisions,  however,  in 
which  the  temptation  and  sinful  life  of  the  Mights  are  described, 
contain  features  which  show  that  the  play  had  a  special  purpose 
and  was  intended  for  a  special  class  of  men.  In  order  to  under- 
stand these  divisions,  it  will  be  necessary  to  look  briefly  at  the 
religious  conditions  in  England  in  the  fifteenth  century. 

At  that  time,  the  Church  was  badly  demoralized;  she  had  just 
passed  through  the  Great  Schism,  in  which  she  had  lost  more 
authority  than  she  could  ever  regain.  In  too  many  eases,  her 
ministers,  from  the  Pope  down,  were  seeking  after  pleasure  and 
wealth  rather  than  after  holiness  of  life.  Men  who  thought  at  all 
saw  the  necessity  for  a  change.  The  seeds  of  heresy  which  Wyclif 
had  sown  in  the  preceding  century  had  found  ready  soil,  and 
heresy  had  sprung  up  and  spread  through  every  class  of  society. 
The  Reformation  was  not  far  away.  The  Church  had  reason  to 
be  alarmed  at  the  spirit  of  unrest.  The  monastic  and  mendicant 
orders  suffered  severely.  The  vows  were  no  longer  held  sacred — 
apostasy  was  common.  According  to  Mr.  Abram,  "The  particular 
evil  which  the  reformers  [within  the  orders]  wished  to  cure  in 
1441  was  the  apostasy  of  the  monks  and  their  flight  from  the 
monasteries.  Their  'speciall  labour  and  intente,'  they  said,  would 
be  to  'reduce  to  religious  observaunce,  apostataas  disordinate  and 
vagabond  persones.'  The  extent  to  which  this  evil  had  gone  is 
revealed  to  us  by  a  series  of  documents  kept  in  the  Public  Record 
Office  amongst  the  Chancery  Warrants  for  Issue.  They  are  letters 
from  the  heads  of  various  religious  houses  asking  the  King  to  grant 
them  letters  patent  ordering  the  secular  authorities  to  arrest  and 
hand  over  to  them  monks  who  had  fled  from  their  monasteries  and 
were  wandering  about  the  country  in  secular  dress.  *****  There 
are  more  than  three  hundred  and  fifty  letters,  and  Orders  of  all 
kinds  are  represented — Benedictines,    Cluniacs   and   Carthusians, 


Purpose  of  the  Play  79 

Cistercians,  Augustinians,  Premonstratensians  [etc.].  Some  of 
the  letters  complain  of  the  flight  of  one  brother  only,  but  many- 
ask  for  the  arrest  of  two  or  more  offenders.  The  evil  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  confined  to  any  particular  locality,  but  the  peti- 
tions are  from  all  parts  of  the  country  [here  a  list  of  places  is 
given]."  "« 

In  1451  we  find  another  proof  of  the  prevalence  of  apostasy.  In 
the  statutes  of  the  Observant  Franciscans  collected  in  that  year  at 
the  general  chapter  of  Barcelona,  the  subject  of  apostasy  was 
treated  at  considerable  length."^  Concerning  this  matter,  Mr.  R. 
Howlett  says,  "Apostasy,  however,  was  the  great  offence,  and  the 
vagabond  friar  was,  both  by  royal  and  papal  enactments,  to  be 
caught  wherever  found  and  handed  to  his  superiors  for  punish- 
ment." In  these  statutes  apostasy  was  the  only  crime  for  which 
the  punishment  of  flogging  was  prescribed.^^^ 

Thus  in  1441  and  again  in  1451  we  find  the  religious  orders 
making  a  determined  stand  against  apostasy.  There  is  no  reason 
for  believing  that  this  stand  was  effective,  and  there  is  no  doubt 
that  apostasy  became  more  and  more  prevalent  as  the  spirit  of  the 
Reformation  grew  stronger.  It  is  with  this  question  of  apostasy, 
I  think,  that  the  second  and  third  divisions  of  Wisdom  deal. 

The  second  division  was  certainly  not  written  for  a  general  audi- 
ence. For  a  performance  before  such  an  audience,  there  would  be 
no  point  in  representing  the  Mights  as  monks  (see  p.  50)  ;  "Man- 
kind" or  "Everyman"  in  general,  as  in  the  plays  of  those  names,  or 
"Humanum  Genus,"  as  in  the  Castle  of  Perseverance,  would  be 
more  appropriate.  Lucifer's  arguments  against  the  contemplative 
life,  which  lead  the  Mights  to  give  up  that  manner  of  living,  would 
also  have  no  significance.  These  features  point  to  a  performance 
before  an  audience  of  monks.  This  conclusion  is  supported  by 
the  general  character  of  the  play.  Mr.  Pollard  points  out  that 
the  number  of  actors  required  makes  the  play  unsuitable  for  a 
traveling  company,  such  as  the  one  which  presented  the  Castle 

"«A.  Abram,  Social  England  in  the  Fifteenth  Century  (University  of  London 
dissertation,  1909),  pp.  111-2.  For  references  to  the  original  documents,  see  Mr. 
Abram's  footnotes. 

i'''' Statuta  Oeneralia  edita  apud  Barcinonam,  A.  D.  1451,  printed  by  R.  Howlett, 
Monumenta  Franciscana   (Rolls  Series),  II,   105.  ^ 

"*  Op.  cit.,  II,  xxiv-v. 


80  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

of  Perseverance.  He  estimates  that  at  least  thirty  performers 
were  necessary  (if  we  add  another  small  boy  to  round  out  the 
Seven  Deadly  Sins,  the  number  will  be  increased  to  thirty-one), 
from  which  fact  he  concludes  that  "although  this  large  number 
by  no  means  excludes  the  possibility  of  the  morality  having  been 
performed  by  a  traveling  company,  so  far  as  it  goes  it  makes  in 
the  other  direction.  "^'^  The  same  is  true  of  the  costumes,  which 
are  unusually  magnificent  and  expensive.  A  traveling  company 
could  hardly  afford  Wisdom's  "Ryche  purpull  clothe  of  golde," 
his  "ryall  hode  furred  with  Ermyn,"  and  his  "Ryche  Imperyall 
CroMTi,  sett  with  precyus  stonys  &  perlys;"  and  Anima's  "wyght 
clothe  of  golde  gyntely  purfyled  with  menyver."  Also,  there  is 
a  notable  lack  of  obscenity,  and  but  little  buffoonery.  It  would  be 
assuming  too  much  as  to  the  refinement  of  the  members  of  the 
monastic  orders  to  conclude  from  tliis  that  the  play  was  certainly 
intended  for  performance  before  them,  but  the  point  is  in  favor  of 
them  rather  than  of  a  popular  audience.  Finally,  the  manuscript 
was  in  the  possession  of  a  monk,  and  pretty  certainly  at  one  time, 
later  perhaps,  belonged  to  the  library  of  a  monastery  (see  p.  85). 
All  of  these  features  are  against  a  supposition  that  the  play  was  in- 
tended for  popular  presentation;  and  the  representing  of  the 
Mights  as  monks,  the  kind  of  arguments  used  by  Lucifer,  and  the 
possession  of  the  Ms.  by  a  monk,  point  specifically  to  a  monastic 
audience. 

The  play  was  written,  I  think,  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting 
the  prevalent  spirit  of  apostasy,  which  was  the  question  of  supreme 
importance  at  this  time  to  the  religious  orders.  The  Mights,  as 
monks,  are  led  by  the  wiles  of  Lucifer  to  renounce  their  vows  and 
return  to  the  common  secular  life.  Lucifer  represents  the  forces 
that  are  demoralizing  the  discipline  and  threatening  the  existence 
of  the  orders.  He  charges  the  Mights  with  idleness ;  he  urges  them 
to  marry — "Bettur  ys  fayer  frut  )?an  fowll  pollucion;"  and  he 
attacks  the  foundation  principle  of  monasticism — contemplation 
and  withdrawal  from  the  world — as  being  contrary  to  the  example 
set  by  Christ.  These  are  common  arguments  with  the  opponents 
of  the  orders  from  the  time  of  Wyclif.^^'^     They  are  arguments  for 

"»  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  xxiii. 

**»  Sep  Wyclif's  opinions  of  monasticism  in  D.  S.  Schafif,  History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  Vol.  V,  pt.  ii,  pp.  334  ff.,  and  G.  Lechler,  John  WycUffe  and  His  English  Pre- 
eur»or».  trans.  P    Lorimer,  pp.  319  fl. 


Purpose  op  the  Play  81 

the  active  as  opposed  to  the  contemplative,  the  worldly  against  the 
monastic  life;  they  represent  the  lure  of  the  world.  As  the  ex- 
ponent of  these  ideas,  Lucifer  is  appropriately  dressed  in  the 
worldly  costume  of  a  "prowde  galonte." 

After  the  JMights  have  given  up  the  contemplative  life,  they 
appear  as  men  of  the  world,  dressed  in  the  latest  and  most  ex- 
treme fashion,  and  they  fall  into  the  sins  of  the  world — main- 
tenance, perjury,  lechery,  and  the  like.  The  play  now  becomes  a 
satire  on  contemporary  vices.  This  part  of  the  play  applies  to 
men  of  the  world  in  general ;  but,  in  view  of  the  connection  of 
the  Lucifer  scene  with  the  religious  orders,  it  seems  fair  to  assume 
that  in  this  general  satire  the  writer  still  has  in  mind  the  members 
of  these  orders.  He  is  representing  the  dangers  which  threaten  the 
apostate  monk  when  he  leaves  the  fostering  care  of  his  order. 

In  the  fourth,  as  in  the  first,  division,  as  we  have  seen,  our 
author  has  not  adapted  his  play  to  his  special  purpose.  These  parts 
have  a  universal  application,  and  follow  the  plan  of  the  general 
morality.  The  third  division,  considered  apart  from  its  connection 
with  the  second,  is  also  of  a  general  nature.  It  is  only  in  the  sec- 
ond division  that  the  special  purpose  is  distinctly  shown. 


AUTHOR 

The  next  point  for  discussion  is  the  question  of  authorship. 
Wliile  it  can  hardly  be  expected  that  the  author  of  Wisdom  will 
ever  be  definitely  known,  it  is  possible  from  the  material  at  hand 
to  form  an  idea  of  his  relations  with  contemporary  movements  of 
thought.  In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  noticed  that  all  the  passages 
which  have  been  cited  as  sources  are  from  the  writings  of  Richard 
RoUe  of  Hampole,  Walter  Hilton,  Henry  Suso  (an  English  adap- 
tation from  one  of  his  works),  Bonaventura,  and  St.  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux,  or  from  writings  attributed  in  the  fifteenth  century  to 
them.  All  these  men  were  prominent  in  that  revolt  against  the 
cold  intellectualism  of  the  Scholastics  which  historians  of  the 
mediaeval  church  call  mysticism.  Besides  these  sources,  a  number 
of  the  parallels-in-idea  in  the  play  are  found  in  the  writings  of 
these  same  mystics  or  of  their  associates.  Evidently  our  author 
was  particularly  interested  in  the  works  of  the  mystics. 

Before  attempting  further  to  determine  the  extent  of  his  rela- 
tion with  mysticism,  we  must  get  a  working  definition  for  that 
word.  We  shall  not  attempt  to  formulate  an  exact  definition,  for 
"mysticism,"  like  "romanticism,"  is  an  elusive  term.  The  most 
characteristic  feature  of  mysticism  is  the  doctrine  of  love,  "burn- 
ing" love  it  is  usually  called,  through  which  the  soul  of  the  wor- 
shipper is  merged  into  the  Being  of  God.  This  love  is  sometimes 
accompanied  by  visions,  such  as  Juliana  of  Norwich  had,  and  by 
ecstatic  experiences  such  as  Richard  Rolle  described  in  his  account 
'of  the  three  phases  of  "  contemplatio  " — calor,  canor,  and  dulcor.^*^ 
This  doctrine  of  "burning,"  contemplative  love  is  the  heart  and 
soul  of  mysticism;  but  the  mystics  did  not  always  live  on  the 
heights  of  love,  nor  did  they  always  write  of  their  ecstatic  ex- 
periences. Walter  Hilton  could  give  practical  advice  to  a  "devout 
man  in  temporal  estate"  who  was  bewildered  by  the  seeming  con- 
flict between  his  duty  to  God  and  his  duty  to  his  family.  St.  Ber- 
nard found  time  to  engage  in  ecclesiastical  politics.  Augustine, 
to  whom  the  later  mystics  went  for  much  of  their  inspiration,  was 
the  first  great  organizer  of  the  practical  working  creed  of  the 
Church.     Mysticism  did  not  exclude  an  interest  in  practical  af- 

**'  Richard  Rolle  of  Hampole,  II,  vii. 


Author  83 

fairs ;  it  simply  shifted  the  preponderance  of  interest  from  them  to 
love  and  quiet  contemplation  of  God.  Again,  most  of  the  mystics 
accepted  the  creed  of  the  church.  To  believe  this  was  their  duty 
as  members  of  the  church.  The  mere  observance  of  rites  and  cere- 
monies, however,  was  not  sufficient  for  them.  They  yearned  for 
a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  God,  and  they  sought  Him  with  so 
fervent  a  love  that  they  found  Him  in  an  immediate  and  personal 
communion  as  real  and  direct,  they  thought,  as  that  which  the 
prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  had  enjoyed.  Mysticism,  then,  was 
not  a  new  formal  religion ;  it  was  a  personal  striving  after  God  on 
the  part  of  orthodox  members  of  the  church.  The  truth  is  that 
most  men  have  something  of  mysticism  in  their  nature.  In  the 
majority  of  them  it  is  held  in  check  by  other  and  stronger  forces; 
in  men  like  Bonaventura  and  Bernard  it  fills  a  larger  place, 
though  it  does  not  exclude  an  interest  in  practical  affairs;  in 
persons  like  Juliana  of  Norwich  and  Richard  Rolle  it  dominates 
practically  the  entire  life.  We  do  not  call  the  men  of  the  first 
class  "mystics;"  we  reserve  that  term  for  the  Bernards  and  es- 
pecially the  Richard  Rolles.  Yet  the  difference  is  chiefly  one  of 
degree. 

The  exact  place  that  the  author  of  Wisdom  occupies  in  this 
scale  of  the  mystics  we  shall  not  attempt  to  decide.  He  deals  pri- 
marily with  the  orthodox  side  of  religion.  He  sets  forth  the  plan 
of  salvation  prescribed  by  the  Church  for  those  who,  through  neg- 
lect of  her  teachings,  have  fallen  into  sin.  Of  the  more  character- 
istically mystical  doctrines,  also,  he  shows  some  traces.  In  11.  61-4 
he  says  that  the  high  worthiness  of  Christ's  love  can  be  felt  from 
experience  above,  but  not  told  plainly;  in  11.  87-90  he  minimizes 
the  importance  of  knowledge  gained  through  the  reason  as  con- 
trasted with  that  which  comes  through  the  "drede  of  God,"  which 
is  the  beginning  of  wisdom;  in  1.  281  he  speaks  of  "burning"  love; 
in  11.  1001-68  he  emphasizes  love  of  God  and  of  one's  neighbors 
as  of  more  importance  in  the  sight  of  God  than  bodily  punish- 
ment; and  in  11.  1101-10  he  describes  in  a  highly  emotional  manner 
Christ's  suffering  on  the  cross.  All  these  are  favorite  topics  with 
the  mystics.  Dr.  Ward  says  of  the  play,  ' '  To  my  mind  it  recalls  some 
of  the  mystic  imaginings  of  Jacob  Bohme,"^«==  a  German  mystic 

"2  A.  W.  Ward,  History  of  English  Dramatic  Literature,  I,  115,  note. 


84  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

(1575-1624).  The  passages  that  have  been  cited  and  the  general 
tone  of  the  play  to  which  Dr.  "Ward  calls  attention,  together  with 
the  fact  that  most  of  the  material  was  taken  from  the  writings  of 
the  mystics,  lead  us  to  the  conclusion  that  our  author  was  himself 
a  mystic.  In  that  case,  he  belongs  among  the  fifteenth-century 
followers  of  Richard  Rolle  and  Walter  Hilton;  but  before  his 
proper  place  among  them  can  be  determined,  the  history  of  English 
mysticism  will  have  to  be  written. 

That  this  mystic  was  a  "man  of  religion"  is  obvious.  The  ques- 
tion is,  to  what  class  did  he  belong?  Was  he  priest,  monk,  or 
friar?  The  German  mystics  of  the  fourteenth  century — Eckhart, 
Tauler,  and  Suso — were  Dominicans;  and  at  that  time  and  in  that 
country,  mysticism  seems  to  have  been  regarded  as  belonging  par- 
ticularly to  that  order.  There  was,  however,  no  necessary  con- 
nection between  the  Dominicans  and  mysticism.  Augustine,  Ber- 
nard, and  Hugo  of  St.  Victor  antedated  the  founding  of  the  mendic- 
ant orders.  Bonaventura  was  a  Franciscan;  Hilton  was  an  Augus- 
tinian  canon;  Richard  Rolle  was  a  hermit,  not  connected  with  any 
order;  Juliana  of  Norwich  was  a  recluse.  There  is,  then,  no  a 
priori  reason  for  assigning  a  writer  of  a  mystic  work  to  any  par- 
ticular class.  But  we  have  seen  that  the  Mights  are  monks,  and 
that  Lucifer  in  tempting  them  uses  arguments  that  are  especially 
adapted  to  them  as  such.  It  is  fair  to  assume,  I  think,  that  our 
author  belongs  to  the  same  class,  for  he  is  evidently  in  sympathy 
with  the  mode  of  life  from  which  Lucifer  entices  the  Mights,  and 
his  purpose  in  writing  is  to  show  the  monks  the  folly  of  leaving 
their  order.  Furthermore,  the  evidence  at  hand  points  to  St. 
Edmundsbury  Abbey,  a  great  Benedictine  house,  as  the  probable 
place  of  performance.  If  this  is  the  case,  our  author  was  probably 
a  Benedictine  monk  of  this  abbey. 


PLACE 

In  regard  to  the  place  of  composition,  Dr.  Furnivall,  in  his  intro- 
duction to  The  Dighy  Plays,  said  that  Wisdom  was  one  of  a  set 
of  plays  given  in  London,  for  it  mentioned  several  places  in  that 
city  and  had  "few,  if  any,  of  the  dialectal  peculiarities  which 
mark  the  Midland  ]\Iysteries. ' '  ^^^  K.  Schmidt,  writing  also  of  the 
Digby  version,  said  that  from  the  allusions  to  London  localities  we 
should  suspect  that  the  play  was  written  either  in  London  or  in 
its  vicinity;  the  dialect,  however,  he  found  to  be  that  of  the  north 
border  of  the  West  IMidlands.  He  tried  to  reconcile  this  incon- 
sistency by  suggesting  that  the  play  might  have  been  written  in 
the  Midlands  and  later  transferred  to  London  or  its  vicinity,  where 
the  local  allusions  were  added.^^*  Dr.  Furnivall,  in  his  After- 
words to  The  Macro  Plays,  pronounced  the  dialect  of  the  Macro 
version  of  Wisdom  to  be  that  of  the  East  Midlands.^^^  A.  W. 
Pollard,  in  the  Introduction  to  the  same  work,  said:  "References 
to  place  and  date  are  neither  abundant  nor  precise.  An  allusion 
to  'sent  Audre  of  Ely'  reinforces  the  evidence  of  the  dialect  and 
the  possession  of  the  manuscript  by  the  same  monk  Hyngston 
[Hyngham]  who  owned  that  of  Mankind,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  play  belongs  to  the  Eastern  Counties."  The  refer- 
ences to  London  legal  quarters  he  thinks  are  only  such  as  suitors 
from  the  country  would  be  familiar  with.^^^  Professor  J.  M.  Manly 
thinks  that  Mr.  Pollard  is  right  about  the  London  allusions,  and 
says  that  the  play  belongs  to  Cambridge,  or  to  St.  Edmundsbury. 

The  Ms.  pretty  certainly  belonged  to  the  latter  place.  According 
to  the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  some  of  Cox  Macro's 
manuscripts  formed  part  of  the  library  of  Bury  Abbey.^"  Our 
manuscript  seems  to  have  been  one  of  these.  An  inscription  at  the 
end  of  Wisdom  (duplicated  at  the  end  of  Mankind)  reads  as  fol- 
lows :  "0  liber,  si  quis  cui  constas  forte  queretur,  Hyngham  quod 
monacho,  dices,  super  omnia  consto"   (this  is  Professor  Manly 's 

183  The  Dighy  Plays,  pp.  xiii-xiv. 

iMK.  Schmidt,  Die  Digby  Spiele,  in  Anglia,  VIII,  391. 

"*  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  xxxv. 

i»"  Op.  cit.,  p.  xix. 

"'  Referred  to  by  Mr.  Pollard,  op.  cit.,  p.  ix. 


86  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

reading).  Concerning  Hyngham,  Mr.  Pollard  says:  "Who  Monk 
Hyngham  was  we  do  not  know.  He  may  have  belonged  to  Bury 
St.  Edmunds,  whence  some  of  the  Macro  manuscripts  are  said  to 
have  come.  "^^^  This  conjecture,  I  think,  can  be  shown  to  be  cor- 
rect. The  abbot  of  St.  Edmundsbury  from  1474  to-  1479  was 
Kichard  Hengham.^^^  These  years  fit  in  with  the  probable  date  of 
the  play  (see  p.  89),  and  the  dialect  of  the  latter  points  to  some 
Midland  locality,  such  as  Bury.  It  is  probable,  therefore,  that 
this  Richard  Hengham  who  afterward  became  abbot  is  the  monk 
who  owned  the  manuscript.  Moreover,  on  fol.  105  of  the  manu- 
script there  is  a  scribbling :  "In  the  name  of  God  amen  I  Rychard 
Fake  of  Bury ' ' — the  rest  of  the  sentence  is  blotted  out.  The  manu- 
script, then,  may  safely  be  assigned  to  St.  Edmundsbury  Abbey. 

The  play  was  also  probably  written  for  that  house.  It  was 
intended  for  a  monastic  audience,  as  we  have  seen,  and  this  abbey, 
which  was  the  most  important  of  the  Midland  monasteries,  and  to 
which  the  manuscript  almost  certainly  belonged,  is  the  most  likely 
place  of  composition. 

1^  Op.  cit.,  p.  XXX. 

"»A  History  of  Suffolk,  II,  72,  article  on  the  Abbey  of  Bury  St.  Edmunds  by  Rev. 
J.  C.  Cox.     (The  Victoria  History  of  the  Counties  of  England). 


DATE 

The  date  of  the  Digby  manuscript  which  contains  the  first  754 
lines  of  Wisdom  is  given  by  Dr.  Furnivall  as  1480-90.^^°  Mr. 
Chambers  says  that  the  dramatic  texts  in  this  manuscript  are  prob- 
ably early  sixteenth-century  copies  of  late  fifteenth-century  plays.^^^ 
The  Macro  manuscript  as  a  whole  is  assigned  by  Chambers  to  the 
reign  of  Edward  IV  (1461-83),"-  and  by  Creizenach  to  the  reign 
of  Henry  VI  (1422-61)"^ — (but  note  the  reference  to  Edward  in 
line  683  of  Mankmd).  For  the  probable  date  of  the  part  of  the 
Macro  manuscript  which  contains  Wisdom,  A.  W.  Pollard  gives 
about  1475,"*  and  J.  S.  Farmer,  1460."^  The  only  new  evidence 
which  I  have  to  offer  is  based  upon  the  inscription  at  the  end  of 
Wisdom  (see  p.  85).  If  we  were  right  in  identifying  the  Monk 
Hyngham  who  owned  the  manuscript  with  Richard  Hengham, 
abbot  of  St.  Edmundsbury  Abbey  from  1474  to  1479,  the  manu- 
script was  probably  written  before  the  former  year ;  for  after  Heng- 
ham had  been  made  abbot,  he  would  hardly  have  signed  himself 
"monk." 

The  date  of  the  composition  of  Wisdom  is  variously  given.  A. 
W.  Pollard  puts  it  about  1460;  "«  C.  M.  Gayley  between  1480-90;  "^ 
and  R.  L.  Ramsay  "before  1483."  "^  The  last  two  writers  give  no 
reasons  for  their  choice  of  dates;  1483  was  apparently  selected  as 
the  last  year  of  the  reign  of  Edward  IV.  Mr.  Pollard's  date  is 
based  in  part  upon  the  assumption  that  maintenance  would  be  at 
its  worst  in  the  decade  between  1454  and  1464,  when  the  royal 
authority  was  at  its  weakest ;  and  that  therefore  the  satire  on  main- 
tenance in  the  play  would  be  most  appropriate  at  that  time.  Main- 
tenance, however,  as  he  points  out,  was  common  in  other  decades 
of  the  century,  and  satire  on  the  practice  was  frequent  in  various 
periods.  Another  reason  for  his  choosing  this  date  is  the  resem- 
blance in  various  respects  which  Wisdom  bears  to  the  so-called  Co- 

is"  The  Digby  Plays,  pp.  xv-xvi. 

i^E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage,  II,  428. 

i«  Op.  cit.,  II,  436-7. 

>»'W.  Creizenach,  Geschichte  dea  neueren  Dramas,  I,  468    (second  edition,   1911). 

"*  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  xxx. 

i**  Tudor  Facsimile  Texts,   Wisdom,  title  page. 

i»«  The  Macro  Plays,  pp.  xix-xx. 

!»'  Plays  of  Our  Forefathers,  p.  294. 

!•*  Magnyfycenee,  p.  xv. 


88  Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 

ventry  Mysteries,  which  are  extant  in  a  manuscript  of  1468.  These 
two  reasons,  of  course,  are  not  sufficient  to  date  the  play  accurately. 

The  identification  of  the  Monk  Hyngham  with  Abbot  Hengham 
would  place  the  date  before  1474,  and  thus  make  Mr.  Gayley's  1480- 
90  too  late.  Mr.  Pollard's  round  date  of  1460  is,  I  think,  about 
right,  although  for  proof  I  have  only  a  conjecture  to  offer.  He 
suggests  that  the  expression,  "Lett  see  Madam  Regent"  {Wisdom, 
1.  710),  may  refer  to  Queen  Margaret's  desire  to  act  as  regent  dur- 
ing the  incapacity  of  Henry  VI. ^^^  This  suggestion  is  not  impos- 
sible; but  there  seems  to  be  little  point  in  the  expression  if  Mar- 
garet was  meant.  The  speaker  is  Maintenance  and  he  is  addressing 
his  followers.  It  seems  to  me  more  likely  that  "Madam  Regent" 
is  Alice,  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  widow  of  the  Duke,  William  de  la  Pole. 
William  died  in  1450,  leaving  a  son,  John,  who  was  at  that  time 
eight  years  of  age.  During  John's  immaturity  the  Duchess  seems 
to  have  attended  to  the  affairs  of  the  dukedom.-^"  In  other  words, 
she  was  the  "Regent-Duchess."  (For  the  use  of  the  word  "regent" 
in  connection  with  a  Duchess  see  under  "Regent"  in  the  New  Eng- 
lish Dictionary) .  If  we  may  judge  from  the  Paston  Letters,  she 
and  her  son,  when  he  was  old  enough  to  have  a  hand  in  affairs,  were 
very  unpopular  with  the  people  of  Suffolk  and  Norfolk.  On  Jan- 
uary 7,  1462,  Margaret  Paston  wrote  to  John  Paston:  "In  good 
feyth  men  fere  sore  here  of  a  comone  rysyng  but  if  a  bettyr  remedy 
may  be  had  to  a  pese  the  pepyll  in  hast.  *****  They  love  not  in 
no  wyse  the  Dwke  of  Sowthfolk  nor  hys  modyr.  They  sey  that  all 
the  tretourys  and  extorsyonerys  of  thys  contre  be  meynteynyd  by 
them  and  by  syche  as  they  get  to  them  with  her  goodys,  to  that 
intent  to  meynten  suche  extorsyon  style  as  hathe  be  do  by  suche  as 
hathe  had  the  rewyll  undyr  them  be  fore  tyme.  Men  wene,  and 
the  Dwke  of  Sowthfolk  come  ther  school  be  a  schrewd  reuell  but  if 
ther  come  odyr  that  be  bettyr  belovyd  than  he  is  here."  2°^  It 
would  be  appropriate  for  the  writer  of  the  satire  on  maintenance  to 
make  the  leader  of  the  maintainers  call  upon  the  Duchess  of  Suf- 
folk, who  was  notorious  for  having  a  part  in  that  practice. 

Moreover,  the  badges  of  the  followers  of  Maintenance  in  the 
play  are  lions   (stage  direction  after  1.  695).     According  to  Fox- 

!*•  The  Macro  Plays,  p.  xix. 

-°°  Paston  Letters,  ed.  James  Gairdner,  I,  122,  258,  521  (edition  of  1872-5). 

«»  Op.  cit.,  II,  83. 


Date  89 

Davies,  the  badge  (not  coat  of  arms)  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk  (John 
de  la  Pole)  was  a  gold  lion;-°-  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  a  white 
lion.^°^  The  Dukes  of  Suffolk  and  Norfolk  were  constantly  quarrel- 
ing about  land,  and  their  followers  kept  the  country  in  a  tur- 
moil.-°*  It  seems  probable,  then,  from  the  lions  used  as  badges  by 
the  followers  of  Maintenance  in  the  play,  that  the  latter  were  in- 
tended to  represent  the  retainers  of  the  two  dukes,  and  especially 
those  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  in  whose  county  the  play  was  written. 

If  these  conjectures  as  to  Madam  Regent  and  the  lions  are  cor- 
rect, we  have  some  new  data  for  determining  the  date  of  com- 
position. The  "hit"  at  Alice,  or  "Madam  Regent,"  would  be  most 
appropriate  before  her  son  had  taken  active  charge  of  affairs.  In 
1455  he  was  restored  to  the  dukedom  of  Suffolk,  and  in  1463  he  was 
re-created  Duke.  The  former  year  apparently  marks  the  time  when 
he  approximately  reached  the  legal  age  of  discretion  (14),  but  we 
are  not  to  suppose  that  at  this  age  he  assumed  all  the  duties  of  a 
Duke.  In  1463,  on  reaching  his  majority,  he  probably  became 
Duke  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name,  and  after  this  time  the  Duchess 
would  have  less  to  say  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  county.  The 
reference  to  Madam  Regent,  then,  we  may  put  before  1463. 

I  do  not  know  when  John  de  la  Pole  adopted  the  lion  as  a  badge. 
His  father's  had  been  an  ape's  clog,  and  that  probably  remained 
the  family  badge  until  the  son  had  retainers  of  his  own.  In  1461 
he  was  with  the  army  vrhich  went  to  fight  Margaret 's  northern  host, 
and  would  need  a  badge  to  distinguish  his  followers.-"^  We  shall 
perhaps,  then,  not  be  far  out  of  the  way  if  we  assign  about  the  year 
1460  as  the  time  for  the  adoption  of  the  lion  as  a  badge.  This 
gives  us  another  limit  for  the  date  of  composition,  for  wliich  we 
thus  have  the  period  1460-3.  Of  course  these  two  limits  are  based 
upon  conjectures,  but  both  conjectures  fit  the  conditions  in  Suffolk, 
the  place  of  composition  of  the  play.-"^ 

«2A.  C.  Fox-Davies,  Heraldic  Badyes,  p.  147.      (London,  1907). 

203  Op.  cit.,  p.  128. 

^o*  History  of  Suffolk,  II,   176-7   (Victoria  History  of  the  Counties  of  England). 

20S  For  the  foregoing  facts  about  the  life  of  John  de  la  Pole,  see  the  article  on  him  in 
the  Dictionary  of  National  Biography . 

2°*  In  passing,  I  have  a  suggestion  to  offer  concerning  the  date  of  Mankind.  In  I. 
458  of  that  play  one  of  the  characters  says,  "Gyf  ws  rede  reyallys."  The  "rial"  was 
first  coined  in  England  in  1465  (New  English  Dictionary,  under  "rial").  This  refer- 
ence and  Hyngham's  inscription  would  give  1465-74  as  the  period  of  composition.  There 
is  a  possibility  that  French  rials  may  have  been  in  circulation  in  England  before  coins 
of  that  name  were  issued  there,  but  as  the  first  reference  to  the  rial  in  the  New  English 
Dictionary  is  under  the  year  1473,  the  French  coins  would  seem  not  to  have  circulated 
freely  in  England. 


-   SUMMARY 

This  concludes  our  examination  of  the  play  of  Wisdom.  We 
have  seen  that  it  is  a  production  written  by  a  mystic,  who  was 
probably  a  monk  of  St.  Edmundsbury  Abbey,  Suffolk,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  counteracting  the  growing  spirit  of  apostasy  in  the  monastic 
orders.  The  date  of  composition  is  probably  about  1460-63.  The 
writer  was  an  extensive  borrower,  in  some  cases  taking  whole  pas- 
sages from  the  writings  of  the  mystics  and  adapting  them  to  his 
own  needs;  and  in  other  cases  using  conventional  ideas,  which  he 
expresses  in  his  own  language.  In  the  third  division  he  seems  to 
have  been  more  original,  and  to  have  given  expression  to  his  own 
views  regarding  the  social  and  political  corruption  in  England.  In 
the  parts  where  the  borrowing  is  most  direct,  viz.,  the  first  and 
fourth  divisions,  the  play  is  heavy  and  commonplace,  the  result, 
no  doubt,  in  part,  of  the  nature  of  his  material.  In  the  second  divi- 
sion, where  the  borrowing  is  less  direct,  there  is  an  increase  in 
liveliness  and  interest,  which  are  found  in  still  greater  degree  in 
the  third  division,  where  the  writer  seems  to  be  most  original.  This 
division  shows  considerable  ability  in  the  writer — when  judged  by 
mid-fifteenth-century  standards — of  which  there  is  little  indica- 
tion in  the  first  and  fourth  parts. 


INDEX 


Abelard,  40. 

Abram,  A.,  78. 

Active  life,  27,  53. 

Aelfric,  42,  47,  56. 

Albertus  Magnus,  43. 

Alice,  Duchess  of  Suffolk,  88  f. 

Anima,  6,  8,  25,  71. 

Anselm,  48. 

Apology  for  Lollard  Doctrines,  52,  59. 

Apostasy,  78  ff. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  39,  42,  43. 

Assembly  of  Gods,  42,  74. 

Athanasian    Creed,  71. 

Audelay,  John,  34. 

Audience,  Monastic,  79. 

Augustine,  32,  39,  40,  41,  43,  44,  48, 

52,  82,  84. 
Author  of  Wisdom,  82  ff. 
Ayenbite  of  Inwyt,  32,  40,  43,  68. 
Baculum  Contemplationis,  17. 
Ballad  against  Excess  in  Apparel,  66. 
Ballad  on  Money,  63. 
Bede,  47. 

Benjamin  Minor,  41. 
Bernard,  St.,  23,  28  ff.,  31,  32,  40,  41, 

45,  54,  56,  82,  83,  84. 
Bihimeyer,  K.,  16. 
Blades,  W.,  14,  15. 
Blessensis,  Peter,  75. 
Bohme,  Jacob,  83. 
Boke  of  the  Craft  of  Dying,  31. 
Bonaventura,  28,  31,  33  ff.,  82,  83,  84. 
Bond,  William,  49,  54. 
Boxvge  of  Courte,  59,  60,  69. 
Boy  Bishop's  Sermon,  66. 
Brinklow,  Henrj%  63. 
Biichlein  der  ewigen  Weiskeit,  14,  16. 
Bury,  Rychard  Fake  of,  86. 
Caedmon,  47. 

Castle  of  Perseverance,  4,  48,  58,  79. 
Catechism  of  Adrian  8[  Epotys,  48. 
Caxton,  9. 


Chambers,  E.  K.,  4,  87. 
Chaucer,  56,  68. 
Chester  Plays,  58,  69. 
Cock  Lorell's  Bote,  64. 
Collier,  J.  P.,  4,  64. 
Comestor,  Peter,  47. 
Confession,  8,  25,  45,  73. 
Confession   and   Prayer   that   St. 

Brandon  Made.  26. 
"Consent,"  7,  45,  55  f. 
Consolatory,  49,  54. 
Contemplations  of  the  Dread  and 

Love  of  Ood,  44,  57. 
Contemplative  life,  24,  27,  51,  52  ff. 
Contrition,  8,  25,  45,  73. 
Cornish  Drama,  The  Ancient,  58. 
Costume,  6,  7,  8,  25,  46,  65,  71,  80. 
Courts  of  Law,  62. 
Coventry  (N-Town)  Plays,  46,  48,  65, 

67,  72,  88. 
Covetousness,  7,  45,  56,  60,  67. 
Creizenach,  W.,  72,  87. 
Cressy,  S.,  17. 

Cursor  Mundi,  47,  57,  68,  74. 
Cushman,  L.  W.,  57. 
Cutts,  E.  L.,  66. 
Date  of  Wisdom,  87. 
De  Imitatione  Christi,  34. 
"Delight,"  7,  45,  55  f. 
Dialect,  85. 
Digby  Ms.,  4,  5,  87. 
Digby  Plays,  5,  47,  85. 
Dress,  extravagance  in,  65. 
Eckhardt,  E.,  46,  57. 
Eckhart,  Meister,  84. 
Epistle  on  Mixed  Life,  18,  26  ff.,  53. 
Everyman,  74,  79. 
Faith,  Hope,  and  Charitj%  43,  45. 
Farmer,  J.  S.,  5,  87. 
Fire  of  Love,  53. 
Fisher,  John,  31,  74. 
Form  of  Perfect  Living,  54. 


92 


Some  Sources  and  Parallels  for  Wisdom 


Fox-Davies,  A.  C,  89. 

Furnivall,  F.  J,,  4,  5,  85,  87. 

Fyslawe,  Thomas,  17. 

Gascoigne,  Thomas,  63. 

Gayley,  C.  M.,  48,  57,  87,  88. 

Genesis,  48. 

Goddis  Owne  Complaynt,  70,  73. 

Gregory  the  Great,  47,  48,  50,  56. 

Gurney,  J.  H.,  4. 

Hengham,  Richard,  86,  87. 

Hilton,  Walter,  17  ff.,  26,  40,  43,  49, 

53,  54,  82,  84. 
Hoccleve,  T.,  21,  62. 
Holborn,  64. 

Horstman,  C,  9,  13,  14,  18,  28,  34,  44. 
Horstmann,  K.,  see  Horstman,  C. 
Howlett,  R.,  79. 
Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  28,  32,  34,  41,  47, 

84. 
Hyckescorner.  63,  64. 
Hyngham,  Monk,  85,  87. 
Idleness  of  monks,  51. 
Informacio    Alredi   Abbatis,    etc.,    34, 

53. 
"Innocence,"  6,  39. 
"Inwits,"  6,  20,  42,  76. 
I  Wite  My  Silf  Myn  Owne  Woo,  70. 
Jacke    Cade,   Proclamation  Made    by, 

62. 
Jacob's  Well,  42. 
Jerome,  St.,  54. 

Juliana  of  Norwich,  82,  83,  84. 
Kildare-Gedichte,  48. 
Knowe  Thy  Self  and  Thy  God,  41. 
Lay  Folks'  Catechism,  42,  74. 
Lean,  V.  S.,  59,  60. 
Lechery,  7,  45,  56,  60,  65. 
Lechler,  G.,  80. 
Legenda  Aurea,  47. 
Leo,  St.,  49. 
Lichfield,  William,  73. 
"Life-in-Sin,"  6,  60. 
Livery,  62. 

Lombard,  Peter,  43,  73. 
Lucifer   (Coventry),  46,  58,  66, 
Lucifer  (Wisdom),  7,  44,  46  if.,  80. 


Lydgate,  41,  62,  63,  69. 

Macro,  Cox,  4,  85. 

Macro  Ms.,  4,  5,  12,  68,  87, 

"Madam  Regent,"  88. 

Magnyfycence,  6,  67,  68,  69. 

Maintenance,  7,  60  ff.,  87  fF. 

Mankind,  4,  79,  85,  87,  89. 

Manly,  J.  M.,  61,  63,  64,  85. 

Margaret,  Queen,  88. 

Marshalsea,  63. 

Martha,  27,  53. 

Mary,  27,  53. 

Mary  Magdalene    (Digby),  4,  40,  46, 

47,  48,  58,  71. 
Meditationes  de  Cognitione  Humanae 

Conditionis,  28  ff. 
Meditations  on  the  Passion,  31,  37. 
Mights,    the   three,    7,    8,    24,    29,   42, 

43  f.,  45,  50,  56,  60. 
Mind,  7,  8,  24,  29,  42,  43  f.,  45,  56,  60. 
Mirror  of  St.  Edmund,  34,  40,  41. 
Mirrour  of  Life,  43,  63. 
Misyn,  R.,  53. 
Mixed  Life,  27,  53  ff. 
Monks,  Mights  are,  50  ff.,  80,  84. 
Moralizatiofi  of  the  Story  of  Jonathas, 

21. 
Mundus  et  Infans,  63,  64. 
Myroure  of  Oure  Ladye,  34,  45,  57, 

60. 
Mysticism,  82  ff. 
Mystics,  16,  75,  82  ff. 
Nassington,  William,  43,  63. 
Nature,  42. 
Neander,  A.,  73,  74. 
"Nine  Points  Pleasing  to  God,"  34,  36, 

74. 
Novem  Virtutes.  32,  34  ff. 
On  the  Council  of  London.  51. 
Orologium  Sapientiae  (English),  9  ff., 

15,  16,  17,  32,  38. 
Orologium   Sapientiae    (Latin),   13, 

14  ff.,  38. 
Parallels-in-idea,  39  ff. 
Paston  Letters,  88. 
Penance,  8,  25,  45,  73. 


Index 


93 


Penance,  excessive,  24,  54. 

Performance,  place  of,  85. 

Perjury,  7,  60,  64. 

Piers  Plowman,  62,  63. 

Place  of  Wisdom.  85. 

Plot,  analysis  of,  6  flF. 

Pole,  John  de  la,  88  f. 

Pollard,  A.  W.,  5,  64,  79,  85,  87,  88. 

Pride,  7,  45,  56,  60,  67. 

Proverbs  of  King  Alfred.  59. 

Proverbs,  Popular,  59. 

Purpose  of  Wisdom,  78  ff. 

Psijchomachia,  67. 

Ramsay,  Tl.  L.,  6,  87. 

Reason,  6,  20,  24,  30,  41,  76. 

"Repentance,"  6,  70. 

Reson  and  Sensuallyte,  41. 

Respublica,  59,  67. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  41,  75. 

Richard  the  Redeless,  62. 

Rolle,  Richard,  of  Hampole,  13,  18. 
31,  32,  34  ff.,  44,  49,  5.3,  54,  57,  82, 
83,  84. 

Russell,  Jolin,  Bishop  nf  Lincoln,  75. 

Satire,  social  and  political,  7,  60  ff., 
81. 

"Satisfaction,"  8,  45,  73. 

Hcala  Perfectionis.  17  ff.,  28,  40,  49, 
54. 

Schaff,  D.  S.,  SO. 

Schmidt,  K.,  85. 

Sensuality,  6.  19,  41,  76. 

Sentence  to  them  that  be  in  Tempta- 
tion, 44. 

Sevene  Poyntes  of  Treve  Lowe  and 
Eiierlastifnge   Witdame,  9,  17. 

Seven  Deadly  Sins,  7,  57,  71,  TOvSo. 

vSharp,  T.,  4. 

Shoreham,  William  of,  74. 


Skelton,  John,  6,  59,  67,  68,  69. 
SoUloquium  de  Quatuor  Mentalibii.i 

Exercitiis.  28,  31,  33  ff. 
Sources  of  Wisdom,  9  ff. 
Speculum  Chrisfiauorum,  66. 
Speculum  Contemplationis,  17. 
St.  Edmundsbury  Abbey,  84,  85. 
Stephen,  J.  F.,  61. 
Stubbs,  W.,  61,  62. 
Suffolk,  Duke  of,  88. 
"Suggestion,"  7,  45,  52,  55  f. 
Suso,  Henry,  14  ff.,  82,  84. 
Tauler,  J.,  84. 

"Temptation  and  Fall,"  6,  45  ff. 
Tolman,  A.  H.,  67. 
Towneleif  Plays.  49,  58,  61,  69. 
Tractatus  de  Charitate.  75. 
Tractatus  de  Interiori   Domo.  :\2,  3-(, 

41v^. 
Trinity  and  the  Mights,  30,  43,  45. 
Tudor  Facsimile  Texts,  5,  87. 
Turnbull,  W.  B.  D.  D.,  5. 
Understanding,  7,  8,  24,  29,  42,  43  f., 

45,  56,  60. 
Upland,  Jacke,  52. 
l^ision  of  Philibert,  50. 
Vulgate,  6,  10,  12,  21,  23.  31.  40,  41. 

51,  57,  76. 
Ward,  A.  W.,  83. 
Westminster,  63,  64. 
Will,  7,  8,  24,  29.  42,  43  f.,  45,  56,  60. 
Windelband,  W.,  41. 
"Wisdom,"  Christ  is,  6,  9,  39  f. 
AVood,  F.  A.,  74. 
Wyclif,  John,   40,   51,   52,   59,   61,   62, 

78,  80. 
Wynkyn  de  Worde,  17,  28,  64. 
York  Plays.  47,  48. 


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